lsaligmander's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book, which taught me a lot about an event I had previously known nothing about. I appreciated how the authors backed up their claims with credible evidence (as far as I could tell) and made an effort to display all sides of such a multifaceted issue and moment in history. I came out of the book feeling like I knew each party’s role and responsibility at at least a basic level.
The book was also pretty engaging, so I’d recommend for anyone interested in diving into a deeply unfortunate moment in history and sorting out how the pieces fit together.
The book was also pretty engaging, so I’d recommend for anyone interested in diving into a deeply unfortunate moment in history and sorting out how the pieces fit together.
yaki78's review against another edition
4.0
I added this book in Goodreads some time ago, but the trigger to read this now came after reading a brilliant essay by Amitav Ghosh on the horrors of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in New Delhi. I have also heard stories of that time from my Dad of how Sikhs in other parts of India used to shave their beards and remove their turbans to hide their identities. A lot of events led to this miserable situation. This book by Mark Tully and Satish Jacob, both journalists with the BBC at that time, describe those events.
Politics and religion form a deadly concoction, especially in a country as diverse as India. It can kill people, people as powerful as the Prime Minister of India. One of the earlier chapters of the book traces the history of Sikhism, which is super important to understand the entire context. That was my favorite chapter of the book. Then it proceeds to more recent times. The defeat in the 1977 Punjab elections for the Congress was the tipping point. They lost to the Akalis. Sanjay Gandhi, along with Giani Zail Singh in order to get back into power decided to use religion as their means. I guess they did not realize the mess they were getting into. However, it would be unfair to blame just the Congress for it. Power was fed into Bhrindanwale from multiple sources with the Congress and Akalis being the major ones. Things started getting worse day by day. Things could still have been controlled if not for the lack of decisiveness and intent from the Central government. There is also an entire chapter which details Operation Bluestar. The role of army and para-military in the entire scheme of things is an important dimension in the whole saga.
The authors are not partisan in their views and it does sound like a neutral account of the events. Though at the start of the book, I felt Mark Tully had a soft corner for Rajiv Gandhi, by the time I finished the book, I realized it was hope more than anything else. The book was published in 1985, a year after Operation Bluestar and people were genuinely hopeful in Rajiv Gandhi. He seemed to be everything that Indira and Sanjay Gandhi were not. Also, since the book was written and published at that time, hindsight bias does not creep in. It is as it was. If you are interested to know more about Operation Bluestar, this book is a great start.
Politics and religion form a deadly concoction, especially in a country as diverse as India. It can kill people, people as powerful as the Prime Minister of India. One of the earlier chapters of the book traces the history of Sikhism, which is super important to understand the entire context. That was my favorite chapter of the book. Then it proceeds to more recent times. The defeat in the 1977 Punjab elections for the Congress was the tipping point. They lost to the Akalis. Sanjay Gandhi, along with Giani Zail Singh in order to get back into power decided to use religion as their means. I guess they did not realize the mess they were getting into. However, it would be unfair to blame just the Congress for it. Power was fed into Bhrindanwale from multiple sources with the Congress and Akalis being the major ones. Things started getting worse day by day. Things could still have been controlled if not for the lack of decisiveness and intent from the Central government. There is also an entire chapter which details Operation Bluestar. The role of army and para-military in the entire scheme of things is an important dimension in the whole saga.
The authors are not partisan in their views and it does sound like a neutral account of the events. Though at the start of the book, I felt Mark Tully had a soft corner for Rajiv Gandhi, by the time I finished the book, I realized it was hope more than anything else. The book was published in 1985, a year after Operation Bluestar and people were genuinely hopeful in Rajiv Gandhi. He seemed to be everything that Indira and Sanjay Gandhi were not. Also, since the book was written and published at that time, hindsight bias does not creep in. It is as it was. If you are interested to know more about Operation Bluestar, this book is a great start.
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