M A I N   N E W S

Special to the tribune
Shyam Bhatia in London
Op Bluestar architect attacked in London
Lt Gen KS Brar targeted outside a hotel; discharged after treatment

Operation Bluestar architect Lt General KS Brar has been stabbed and wounded on a central London Street. His injuries were said to be not serious, but he was rushed to a central London hospital where he was treated and discharged.

Lt General Brar,78, who won the Vir Chakra for his role in the 1971 India-Pakistan war, was in London on a private visit when he was stabbed just before 11 pm last Sunday night (yesterday) on Old Quebec Street, just off Marble Arch and Oxford Street in the British capital.

This is a popular area in central London, filled with pubs, restaurants and large department stores. Lt General Brar is thought to have been coming out of a restaurant when he was attacked. Lt Gen Brar, a Z-category protectee, was reportedly stabbed by four bearded men. He was with his wife when the incident took place.

Confirming that Lt General Brar had been attacked, a spokesman for Scotland Yard told The Tribune, "There is an ongoing investigation about a man who was assaulted on Old Quebec Street, W1, at 22.40 on Sunday night. Emergency services were called for a man in his 70s who was suffering from a knife wound.

"He is in a serious condition in hospital, but the injury is not life threatening."

A spokeswoman for the Indian High Commission said, "He (Lt General Brar) was on a private visit and was attacked by some people. He was injured, hospitalised and has been discharged."

The Indian High Commission has refused to comment on who might be responsible for the attack. But there is inevitable speculation that the perpetrator is linked to Khalistani extremists who have become more active in recent months in the UK. They have not forgiven Lt General Brar for his role in flushing out the extremists from the Golden Temple way back in 1984, which resulted in the death of extremists leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Also killed in the operation was retired Major General Shabeg Singh, Lt General Brar's former superior officer who had joined the militants.

Brar was commanding 9 Division based in Meerut in 1984 when he was asked to cancel his pending leave and help co-ordinate Operation Bluestar, together with Lt Generals Krishnaswamy Sundarji, then head of Western Command, and Ranjit Singh Dayal.

Operation Bluestar was controversial because of the casualties involved and also because of the decision to enter the premises of the Golden Temple just after Guru Arjan's martyrdom day.

Justifying the operation, Lt General Brar later was quoted as saying, "It is very easy to say that we could have laid siege, we could have postponed it for a day or two, or carried out the Operation without the loss of life.

It is only we, who were there at that time, who know what our limitations and needs were."

Bluestar got underway on the night of June 5, 1984, when six infantry battalions and a squad of commandos under General Brar's command stormed the premises of the Golden Temple. Four out of the six commanders were Sikhs and they were repeatedly asked not to fire in the direction of the Hamindar Sahib even if they received fire from that direction.

It took six days and the use of several tanks to complete the operation, resulting in damage to the Akal Takht, which has subsequently been rebuilt.

Commenting on the damage, Lt General Brar later said, “It is unfortunate that there were so many casualties, as well as destruction, which we tried to avoid to the maximum. I am a Sikh myself, and I can assure you that there was no indiscriminate killing during the operation, and at all times our endeavour was to save life and property."

He added, "We tried to avoid the operation totally by requesting the inmates to surrender so that there would be no bloodshed, but it seems that they were determined not to do so. As you know, the charisma of Bhindranwale was such that the people had almost begun to accept him as the 11th Guru and were prepared to sacrifice their lives at his call."

Lt General Brar has family members living in London. Among them was a maternal uncle, who died of cancer in 1997 and who initially opposed his nephew's role in Operation Bluestar. General Brar visited his dying uncle in hospital and said in a subsequent interview that his uncle had "tears rolling down his cheeks" and now understood his actions.

Sources said External Affairs Minister SM Krishna, who is in New York, called up the Indian High Commissioner J Bhagwati to know about the condition of Lt Gen Brar, who has been on the hit-list of various extremists and militant organisations.

No word on perpetrators

The Indian High Commission has not commented on who might be responsible for the attack on Lt Gen Brar

But there is speculation that the perpetrator is linked to Khalistani extremists

Brar’s injuries were said to be not serious. He was hospitalised and later discharged

Key Bluestar Planner

Lt Gen Brar, then a Maj Gen and GOC 9 Division, helped coordinate Operation Bluestar, together with Generals Krishnaswamy Sundarji, then head of Western Command, and Ranjit Singh Dayal. Bluestar was controversial because of the casualties involved and also because of the decision to enter the Golden Temple complex just after Guru Arjan's martyrdom day.