Operation Blue Star: Lessons from a tragedy

Gurnaaz Kaur

Hindi author Ajay Sharma has made good use of this bent in life that came with Coronavirus. He wrote his 13th novel. Titled Operation Blue Star, it is a fictional drama that he wanted to write since long.

As the title suggests, the story has the military operation in the backdrop but brings to fore the trauma that common citizens faced due to the ghastly event at the Golden Temple in 1984. “Being a Punjabi, I felt it was my responsibility towards the state to narrate the ordeals of a civilian who suffered at the hands of politicians,” says Ajay.

A conversation between two Sikh soldiers, who are deployed at the site before the firefight, it tells how one of them is conflicted between his faith and duty. “At the place where he prays, worships his Guru, there comes a day in his life where he has to wear shoes and carry weapons because it is a part of his job. It also means attacking innocent Sikhs who visit the place. He tells his colleague how he feels uncomfortable about the whole situation,” Ajay adds.

The discussion gets pensive as the two talk about the way the government could avert the whole situation. “From time immemorial, the rulers have caused bloodshed for power and it is the innocent who suffer. In this touching story, I’ve shared the anguish of the Sikh community as a whole who till date haven’t been able to forget the tragedy.”

The wounds haven’t healed and the massacre has had no winner. But there are lessons to learn and the Jalandhar-based novelist says his novel is an attempt to highlight such learnings.

On his way to his next book Kumudni Ke Phool, which is about IVF babies, this doctor-turned-writer has three novels that are a part of the syllabus at Punjabi University, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar and Lovely Professional University. He has also written serials for Doordarshan and promises that like some of his other novels even Operation Blue Star will be turned into a play. “I am waiting for the right time, when the virus will be gone and social distancing won’t be a compulsion. Then, I will showcase this emotional tale of a Sikh soldier on stage.”