Would Chidambaram reveal his stance on the Sri Lanka destabilisation project?

Congress senior faults Indira over 'Operation Blue Star'

- BY SHAMINDRA FERDINANDO

General Arunkumar Shridhar Vaidya, who -served as the 12th Chief of Staff of the Indian Army, from 1983 to 1986, was assassinated in August, 1986, by Sikh terrorists, for his role in "Operation Blue Star' in 1984. Vaidya was 60-yearsold.

He was shot dead on August 10, 1986, on Rajendrasinhji Marg, in Pune. His killers, namely Harjinder Singh, aka Jinda, and Sukhdev Singh, came parallel to Vaidya's car, on motor scooters, and fired several shots at him. They were apprehended, following an accident, and sentenced to death on Oct. 21, 1989, and hanged at Yerwada jail on October 9, 1992.

On the orders of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, troops of 'Operation Blue Star' flushed out terrorists from Amritsar. That operation, carried out between June 1 and June 10, 1984, was meant to remove Khalistan terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his band of armed followers from the Harminder Sahib complex, in Amritsar.

Former Union Home and Finance Minister P Chidambaram recently found fault with Premier Gandhi for ordering 'Operation Blue Star.' Declaring that the operation had been a mistake, the senior Congress leader pointed out that Premier Indira Gandhi had to pay with her life for that decision. Indira Gandhi was killed by her Sikh bodyguards at her New Delhi residence on Oct 31, 1984. Her assassination triggered unprecedented violence.

Rajya Sabha member Chidambaram went a step further when he emphasised that the Army, the Police, the intelligence and civil service had been collectively responsible for that decision.

Although the NDTV report, headlined "Indira Gandhi paid with her life for Op Blue Star mistake: P Chidambaram" posted on Oct 12, hadn't made any reference to the high profile assassination of General Vaidya, obviously the Congress senior also found fault with Vaidya. The slain General is widely believed to be one of the architects of the operation.