New Delhi, Feb 5 (IANS) The BSP, BJP and Akali Dal Wednesday slammed the Congress over the new disclosures from Britain concerning Operation Bluestar and said the then Indira Gandhi government had mishandled the situation.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati said the Indira Gandhi government should not have taken advice from another country but sorted out the matter itself.
“I feel they should not have taken advice from any other country. There should not have been interference. It would have been better to find a solution within the country through talks,” Mayawati told reporters here.
It was recently revealed by Britain that India sought military advice before the government ordered Operation Bluestar to flush out militants from Amritsar’s Golden Temple complex in 1984.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague Tuesday confirmed that his country provided advice ahead of the Indian Army’s June 1984 storming of this holiest Sikh shrine but clarified it had no operational involvement.
Mayawati said the 1984 riots were very painful and Sikhs have not got justice under the governments headed by the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
“They did not appear serious (in providing justice to the Sikhs). Hence, we want a special probe,” Mayawati said, asking for the Supreme Court to intervene in the matter.
Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal said Operation Bluestar was premeditated.
“It is unfortunate that things were allowed to go out of hand and all this for political gains. This whole thing was premeditated and pre-planned,” she told Times Now news channel.
She said there was a gap of a few months between the visit of the British military advisor and Operation Bluestar and the government could have sorted out the issue by dealing deftly with the situation.
“They chose not to do it. They allowed the arms to enter, allowed things to get to such a pass that they sent in the army and then tried to convey to the country that Sikhs are anti-national and on the basis of it went to fight the next elections,” she said.
“It is unfortunate that the prime minister stoops to that level. It goes to show the extent to which the Congress party can go for political gains,” she added.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vice president Balbir Punj said the government must take the country into confidence about what happened.
He said the government getting in touch with Britain on an issue concerning the country was “shameful”.
“The government of India got in touch with Britain, sought its help in dealing with its own people. After all, all those people in the Golden Temple at the time of Operation Bluestar were our people. They were our flesh and blood. And it was our internal problem. Why do you have to take the help of Britain in dealing with our people. This is really shameful,” he said.
Union minister Farooq Abdullah, however, said countries work together and share information. “There is no country that does not work together,” Abdullah told Times Now.
He said India was getting information from the US concerning terrorism.