Op Blue Star was the wrong way… Indira Gandhi paid with her life for the mistake: Chidambaram

Chidambaram was responding to a statement by Baweja that Indira Gandhi paid with her life for her decision on Operation Blue Star.

“No disrespect to any military officers here but that was a wrong way to retrieve the Golden Temple. Few years later, we showed the right way to retrieve the Golden Temple by keeping out the Army… Blue Star was the wrong way and I agree that Mrs Gandhi paid with her life for that mistake,” said Chidambaram. He, though, added that the operation was a cumulative decision of the Army, the police, the intelligence and the civil service. “You cannot blame it only on Mrs Gandhi. Would you?,” he asked Baweja.

Later in the discussion, Chidambaram said “the real problem” in Punjab at present is its economic situation.

“My visits to Punjab (have) led me to believe that the political cry of Khalistan and separation has practically died down and the real problem is the economic situation… most illegal migrants are from Punjab,” he added.