Punjab AAP leaders slam Congress over Chidambaram's remarks on 'Operation Blue Star'

Chandigarh, Oct 12 (PTI) Punjab AAP MP Malvinder Singh Kang on Sunday slammed the Congress over its leader P Chidambaram's remarks on 'Operation Blue Star', saying "merely admitting that what happened was wrong does not erase its crimes and sins." The Anandpur Sahib MP further said the "wounds" inflicted on Sikhs in Punjab and Delhi are still fresh in their hearts. "Sikhs can never forget the Congress' atrocities committed against them and that the Congress can never be forgiven for it," the MP said in a statement.

Chidambaram, while speaking at a literary event in Himachal Pradesh's Kasauli on Saturday, said that 'Operation Blue Star' was "wrong" and the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi "paid the price with her life for the mistake".

At the Khushwant Singh Literary Festival in Kasauli, Chidambaram said that 'Operation Blue Star' was a "wrong way" to take on the militants.

Chidambaram, a Rajya Sabha MP, while in conversation with journalist and author Harinder Baweja on her book 'They Will Shoot You Madam: My Life Through Conflict', said, "There was a way to retrieve and capture all militants but 'Operation Blue Star' was a wrong way and I agree that Mrs Gandhi paid with her life for the mistake but the mistake was a cumulative decision of the Army, Intelligence, police and civil defense and you cannot completely blame Mrs Gandhi".

Meanwhile, AAP MLA Inderbir Singh Nijjar, while reacting to Chidambaram's remarks, said that trying to share the blame with the Army and intelligence agencies, instead of placing full responsibility on Indira Gandhi, was a "clear attempt to shield the Congress leadership".

"Everything that happens in the country is done with the consent of the head of state. During 'Operation Blue Star', Indira Gandhi was the prime minister, and she was fully responsible for the entire episode," said Nijjar.

'Operation Blue Star' was a military operation undertaken between June 1 and June 10, 1984, against Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale-led armed militants who were holed up on the premises of the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984. PTI CHS MNK MNK