Operation Blue Star had speedy and catastrophic results. After a couple months of the operation, on October 31, 1984, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards. The military involvement at the harm inclined at the Golden Temple had created unquenchable violence and hatred, which eventually was responsible for her assassination. Within hours of the assassination of Indira Gandhi, anti-Sikh violence broke out in cities across India, which sadly resulted in more casualties and more damage to assets.

Operation Blue Star and events that followed should serve a lesson on how much risk or indeed threatening political strategies that rely on stereotypes of religion or ethnicity as weapons have. Indira Gandhi’s government, in a bid to contain a volatile situation, accidentally made the situation it was dealing with worse. The emergence of Bhindranwale and the subsequent violent confrontation were certainly parts of the Sikh politics but in an equally complex political canvas involving the Congress party were interlinked as well.

Though Indira Gandhi was trying to find a new approach for a thorny issue, the eventual consequences of her means brought attention to perils posed by political strategies in which miserable groups are used as a means to an end. The abhorrent incidents that occurred later provide a chilling insight into how fragile equilibrium is when such a government is in charge and even attempt to resolve the historical, comprising political and social tensions.

Even now, there is a debate and academic instruction on Indira Gandhi’s legacy during this awful stint. The book depicts the quandaries that have to be tackled while devising policies and how they may influence the cohesion of the nation and the people as well.