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Following crackdown on sikh militants in early 1984, a group of militant sikhs led by Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale took refuge in the Golden Temple and transformed it into a military stronghold. The temple was earlier a site where 10,000 sikhs vowed to lay down their lives if necessary for a separate sikh state. (see John Pike, "Sikhs in Punjab", GlobalSecurity)

In March 1984, by which time the temple was already long occupied by Bhindranwale, the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered the Indian army to sorround the temple. In April, major concessions were offered by the Indian government which were welcomed by the moderates like Akali Dal but failed to appease the radicals. Tensions continued to mount between the government and the radical faction amidst an increase in violence in the state of Punjab and intelligence reports of India's archrival Pakistans willingness to politically and militarily support an independent state of Khalistan as a homeland for the sikhs.

On the 3rd of June, a 36 hour curfew was imposed on the state of Punjab which increased the apprehensiveness of the militants inside the temple that a raid on the temple was imminent. The period coincided with the weekend of 2nd and 3rd, the anniversary of the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev who built the Golden Temple and compiled the Sikh's Holy book. As a result of this,when the curfew was lifted the temple Guru Granth Sahib was filled with worshippers.

So far the religious risks of storming the shrine had led to a tense stand-off and it appeared security forces were still hoping the militants would surrender, making a direct attack unnecessary. (see BBC reports and time lines 6/June/1984, available online )

Amid fears of declaration of independence by Bhindranwale and support from Pakistan, Indira Gandhi decided to send troops inside the temple. Bhindranwale declared he would die as a martyr and any military action within the temple would unite the Sikhs of India.

On June 5th 1984, the Indian army asked the militants to surrender and made a plea to release the trapped civilians inside. The militants however refused to surrender or release the hostages forcing the army to storm the temple. The army used as much force as it deemed necessary to dislodge the militants. Eyewitnesses say that the army deployed tanks, armed personnel carriers, rocket launchers, heavy machine guns and helicopters. Many of the buildings surrounding the Temple were reduced to rubble. However the army also tried to limit damage to the extent that it was possible. The Harmindar Sahib [the sanctum sanctorum where the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, is kept during the day] received little damage. On the other hand, Bhindranwale, a self proclaimed leader of the Sikhs, showed total disregard for the tenets of Sikhism by occupying the first floor of the Akal Takht . The Akal Takht is where the Guru Granth Sahib (the Sikh holy book) is kept at night after being taken from the Harmindar Sahib and no one is allowed to stay above the Guru Granth Sahib.

The militants hiding in the temple appeared to be armed heavily with machine guns, anti-tank missiles and rocket launchers and resisted the army's attempts to dislodge them from the shrine. The militants also appeared to have planned for a long occupation of the shrine having arranged for water from wells within the temple compound, and had stocked food provisions that would have lasted months. The ensuing day-long gunfight resulted in the death and capture of several miltants and the loss of lives of several army personnel and civilians caught in the cross-fire.

Despite the government's claims that only extremists were killed other reports show that many visitors were killed in the cross-fire (see e.g. 'Indian Express' 18/6/84) 'India today (30/9/84) reported the case of Zaida Khartton, a Bangladeshi women who stopped to get food for her five children at the Golden Temple and ended up in jail. Water, electricity and telephone links to the Golden Temple were cut off.

On 18/6/84 Christian Science Monitor reported: -" For five days the Punjab has been cut off from the rest of the world. All telephone and telex links are cut. No foreigners are permitted entry and on Tuesday, all Indian journalists were expelled. There are no newspapers, no trains, no buses- not even a bullock cart can move."

It was a military operation using indiscriminate force against a non-military target and as such was in breach of Article 51 of the 1977 Protocol to the Geneva Convention. In the Punjab as a whole, about 150,000 to 200,000 soldiers were used to flush out "terrorists".

Many Sikhs believe that the number of Bhindranwale's men has been greatly exaggerated by the government. Some estimates by survivors of the attack put the number of Bhindranwale's men at around 100 men. Other estimates put Bhindranwale's men at 500 and other armed groups at 150.

The operation was poorly executed and the army brought in tanks in the temple to flush the militant Sikh separatists. The success in emptying the temple was marred by the damage to the temple building and killing of civilian worshipers caught in the fire. There were apparently more than 3,000 people in the temple when Operation Blue Star began, among them 950 pilgrims, 380 priests and other temple employees and their families, 1,700 Akali Dal supporters, 500 followers of Bhindranwale and 150 members of other armed groups. Official figures put the number of people killed at around 1000, however unofficial sources estimate that the number of civilian casualties alone were much higher. (source: John Pike, "Sikhs in Punjab" GlobalSecurity)

Operation Blue Star led to India's bitter relations with Sikhs all over the world. It was considered by most Sikhs as a great insult because of the use of force at their holy place, on one of the most holiest of days. The later assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards was said to be in response. The events that followed were more horrific. Anti-Sikh riots broke out North India killing as many as 3,000 Sikhs, militancy in Punjab lasted for more than a decade in which many people, often a target of sikh militants, were killed.

Operation Bluestar was followed by Operation Woodrose, in which the Indian government expanded their operations in Punjab and arrested and killed many thousands of Sikh militants.