Operation Black Thunder: An Eyewitness Account Of Terrorism In Punjab by Sarab Jit SinghMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
Hooter: A first hand account of the Amritsar DC handling militancy in Punjab right after Operation Blue Star in the 80s and 90s.
Sarabjit Singh shares a first hand perspective of the climate during his tenure, the events prior that led to that situation and all the players involved. He focuses on the operational aspects of Operation Black Thunder, the tantamount tension and pressure from various stakeholders in a very charged environment, dealing with probabilities at every step. He also talks of the political set up amongst the panthic committees, the central government playing its role, a series of public disappointments and how a potpourri of all of this led to the rise of militancy. He breaks out the various groups that had their own motives and how it all played out.
The book is a collection of his thoughts so isn't very fluid and does come back with repetition at times but rather than aiming for a Pulitzer, this book does well to document one of the darkest phases Punjab has had to see in it's recent history and what was the thinking behind the government machinery in trying to tackle the same.
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