The National Identity XXIII: A Most Presidential Mess
Giani Zail Singh’s travails against his elected tormentors
A recurring theme of the National Identity has been to hark back to the days of the mid to late 1980s. It was undoubtedly a turbulent period in India’s history. Militarily, Operation Bluestar, Operations Brasstacks, Meghdoot, Pawan and Falcon, an unprecedented level of military activism and the Bofors scandal, have all been written about.
This period also saw, perhaps, the most dysfunctional relationship between the Rashtrapati Bhavan and the South Block. Two years of appallingly cold, boorish and thuggish behavior by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) was met with a staunch response by the President once he realized he had to fight his corner.
More than 30 years after the event, it has emerged that the biggest champion of military action against Bhindranwale in 1984 wasn’t Indira Gandhi, as has been widely portrayed. It was a coterie of three, led by her son Rajiv Gandhi. By his side were the two infamous Aruns — Arun Singh and cousin, Arun Nehru. Arun Singh, a royal descendant and a classmate of Rajiv’s at both Doon School and Cambridge, was trigger happy and a big champion of India’s most forceful Army chief — General Sundarji. General Sundarji was Western Army commander (and thus the Operational head)…
