RR#14: Amritsar: Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s Last Battle

Curating unbiased accounts of real-life events has always been a tough ask. Particularly in the current atmosphere, where the advantages of information asymmetry have been pummelled by the sheer spread of fake news or doctored events. Anything and everything cited has to be thoroughly verified or you risk contracting severe foot-in-the-mouth disease. In a refreshing change from the usual tidal wave of barely believable information (not the Onion, of course) we are awash with, I decided to immerse myself into absolute facts and first-person accounts from a watershed moment in Indian history.

Mark Tully and Satish Jacob, BBC journos worked together on a tell-all account of what went down during Operation Bluestar as well as the numerous events and socio-political tangents leading up to it. Titled Amritsar: Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s Last Battle, the book revolves around that fateful period at the Golden Temple with the late PM’s life and subsequent death acting as supporting pillars to the narrative. For someone like me with very superficial knowledge about the insurgency in Punjab and the history of Sikhism in India through the ages, the book does a great job of mapping out the events in an episodic manner that’s fairly convenient. The book delves deep into the rise and Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, whose persona was equally divisive – a sant (saint) for some, an extremist for the others. A lot of context is provided into the communal tension between the Sikhs and Hindus pre and post-emergency and how the Gandhis, Indira and Rajiv, and Giani Zail Singh dealt with things from a political perspective. The political narrative acts as a platform for the re-telling of what went down during Operation Bluestar, with detailed reporting of events from the Indian armed force’s perspective. The fall-out of the events and the trauma generated from that entire period – casualties from civil riots, deaths, and injuries as a part of the takeover of the Temple – makes you wonder the extent of the entire scene, considering numbers were horribly under-reported throughout.

The read: While the book is a gripping read from start to finish, reading about the abandon with which lives were mowed down makes you wonder about the small price human lives have been assigned. Some of it still makes me shudder in horror, that’s how gruesome they are, and props to Tully and Jacob for reporting nothing but the absolute truth. The authors work well as a duo, with Tully’s reporting and Jacob’s on-ground reporting making for a great combo. The inclusion of the first-hand accounts from people who were a part of said events, equally presented from either end also makes this entire text really engaging. Well worth a read, don’t let the title confuse you into thinking about the plausible bias. The book’s piqued my interest in picking up classical Indian history again and hopefully, you will read of a few more battles here in the future.

Trivia: The book mentions how the Punjabis pride their track record in the army and the fact that the name Jarnail is derived from General. Likewise, Karnail is derived from Colonel. There are other instances such as Subedar Singh, Laftan (Lieutenant) Singh, Major Singh and Kaptan (captain) Singh. (Reference)

Documentation:
Book: Amritsar: Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s Last Battle

Author: Mark Tully & Satish Jacob

Year of Release: 1985
Publishers: South Asia Books