Why Indira didn’t let Rajiv attend two proposed meetings with Bhindranwale

NEW DELHI: The year 1984 is a defining moment in Sikh history but could events have taken a different course? A new book suggests there were windows of opportunity to control militant preacher Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, but these were squandered because “politics and politicians came in the way of conflict resolution”. In the months leading up to Operation Blue Star , then PM Indira Gandhi wanted her son Rajiv to secretly meet and negotiate with Bhindranwale. Two meetings were even set up by then Congress MP Amarinder Singh between 1982-84 but they never materialised because Indira was worried that her son’s life might be in danger. The last-minute cancellation of the meetings infuriated Bhindranwale, who later moved into the Golden Temple in Amritsar, setting the stage for Ope