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Operation Blue Star

Parties to the civil conflictIndiaIndian ArmyCentral Reserve Police ForceBorder Security ForceSpecial Frontier ForcePunjab PoliceSikh militantsDamdami TaksalAll India Sikh Student FederationBabbar KhalsaSikh ex-military officersCommanders and leadersArun Shridhar VaidyaKuldip Singh BrarRanjit Singh DyalKrishnaswamy SundarjiJarnail Singh Bhindranwale†Amrik Singh†Shabeg Singh†StrengthList9th Infantry DivisionSupport provided by: 7th Infantry Division15th Infantry Division350th Infantry BrigadeElement of 60th Engineer Regiment7th Garhwal Rifles9th Garhwal Rifles(failed, heavy casualties)26th Madras Regiment(failed, heavy casualties)12th Bihar Regiment2 Companies of 15th Kumaon Regiment9th Kumaon Regiment10th Dogra Regiment12th Dogra Regiment16th Dogra Regiment10th Brigade of The Guards (failed, heavy casualties)20th Rajputana Rifles80 members of 1th Para SF battalion(failed, heavy casualties)8th Battalion of Special Frontier Force56th Commando Company175th Parachute Regiment and artillery units with Ordnance QF 25-pounder guns700 troops from the 4th CRPF Battalion and 7th BSF Battalion150 Punjab Police officers8 Vijayanta main battle tanks from 16th Light Cavalry (1 squadron)8 BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles, 3 OT-64 SKOT armoured personnel carriers from 8th Mechanised Infantry Battalion 80-200 militantsCasualties and losses83 killed (initial White Paper claim)700 killed (As per a disclosure by Rajiv Gandhi)White Paper initial claim:249 injured1 APC (OT-64 SKOT) disabledIndependent estimate: 800–900 injured4,712 to 5,000+ civilians killed in the complex during the operation estimates another 1,000 Sikhs killed in the vicinity of the complex;Independent human rights organizations estimate over 10,000 killed total.White Paper initial claims:493+ killed (including 309 Sikh pilgrims)However, independent estimates ran much higher (see directly below)Operation Blue Star was a military operation by the Indian Armed Forces conducted between 1 and 10 June 1984, with the stated objective of removing Damdami Taksal leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and militants from the buildings of the Golden Temple, the holiest site of Sikhism, in Amritsar.

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