Sonia Gandhi Recalls 'Indira's Tears' Over Op Bluestar, Akali Dal Hits Back

Chandigarh: A fresh political controversy has erupted in Punjab after Congress leader Sonia Gandhi reportedly wrote in her book that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was distressed by the images emerging from Operation Blue Star, the 1984 military operation inside the Golden Temple complex. Gandhi's book, titled "Belonging: A Journey of Love" will be released on Tuesday. Reacting sharply to the reports, Shiromani Akali Dal spokesperson Arshdeep Singh Kler questioned the Congress leadership's expression of anguish, saying the operation was a direct attack on the Sikh community and Sri Akal Takht Sahib, the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs. He alleged that Operation Blue Star was carried out as part of a conspiracy and said the pain of the incident would remain in the hearts of Sikhs for generations.Drawing a parallel with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Kler said the pain inflicted by the Congress could not be described in words. "The Congress committed genocide against Sikhs and innocent Sikhs were murdered," he said, asking the party leadership to speak to families who lost their loved ones and saw their homes burnt down to understand the extent of their suffering.In an interview with "The Guardian" ahead of the release of the book, Gandhi said when her mother-in-law was shown images of the devastation during the Operation Blue Star, tears rolled down her face.Following Operation Blue Star, Indira Gandhi received threats to her life. "She told us what to do in case she died - so she knew," Gandhi was quoted as saying by "The Guardian". "She was making preparations for her death. She told Rahul he must be brave and not to cry," she added.Defending the Congress, party working president Raj Kumar Verka said the party had never justified Operation Blue Star and maintained that Congress stood with Punjab and its people. He also pointed to visits by Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi to the Golden Temple, saying both leaders had offered prayers at the Sikh shrine.The exchange has once again brought the sensitive legacy of Operation Blue Star and the 1984 anti-Sikh violence into Punjab's political discourse. While the Akali Dal has questioned the Congress's moral position on the events of 1984, the Congress has sought to distance itself from any justification of the military operation, even as the issue continues to evoke deep emotions across the Sikh community.