After Blue Star
After Blue Star
The Golden Temple at Amritsar ©
When the Indian army stormed the Sikhs' most sacred shrine, Mark Tully was there reporting for the BBC. In 2004, twenty years on, he returned to the Golden Temple in Amritsar to assess both the trigger and the resulting wounds in a two-part programme, After Blue Star, for the BBC World Service.
Part 1 - Survivors, soldiers and a saint
He speaks to the survivors of Operation Blue Star and hears about the inner torment of one of the Sikh generals who led the attack and goes in search of the man who became a saint after Blue Star: Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the Sikh preacher and leader of the Sikh independence movement.
Thousands of miles away, in Britain, he meets the Sikh artist twins whose work has been inspired by Blue Star.
Survivors, soldiers and a saint (22:43 mins)After Blue Star part 1, broadcast 2004, BBC World Service
Part 2 - Seeking Sikh independence
As a result of Blue Star and the anti-Sikh riots, many who had been westernised were prompted to return to their Sikh roots.
The separatist movement for an independent Khalistan, a Sikh state in Punjab, still has a strong following from Sikhs in Britain and the United States.