Pro-Khalistan slogans raised at Golden Temple amid 'Operation Bluestar' anniversary

News Network

June 6, 2023

Supporters of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Mann) raised slogans in support of the Khalistani movement and Bhindranwale at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on the 39th anniversary of the controversial Operation Bluestar.

In a video shared by news agencies, pro-Khalistani supporters can be seen holding posters of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a prominent figure of the Khalistan movement, can be seen raising slogans of 'Khalistan Zindabad'.

Earlier, security was beefed up at the Golden Temple in Amritsar and across the city ahead of the anniversary of Operation Blue Star. DCP (Law and order) Parminder Singh Bhandal said that police in civil dress have been deployed as well.

The city has been sealed to prevent any untoward incident, he said, adding that adequate police personnel has been posted at various spots in the city.

Operation Bluestar was a military action ordered by late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to flush out militants led by Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale holed up in the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar.

Operation Bluestar was carried out between June 1 and 8, 1984, and claimed several lives and left the shrine and complex damaged.

Sikh radical group Dal Khalsa organised a rally in the city to commemorate the day and in support of Khalistan.

Tight security across Punjab has been observed with the radical outfit calling for Amritsar bandh.

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IndiGo CEO says less than 1,000 cancellations on Dec 6; normalcy by Dec 15

News Network

December 5,2025

New Delhi, Dec 5: IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers issued a public apology this evening after more than a thousand flights were cancelled today, making it the "most severely impacted day" in terms of cancellations. The biggest airline of the country cancelled "more than half" of its daily number of flights on Friday, said Elbers. He also said that even though the crisis will persist on Saturday, the airline anticipates fewer than 1,000 flight cancellations.

"Full normalisation is expected between December 10 and 15, though IndiGo cautions that recovery will take time due to the scale of operations," the IndiGo CEO said.

IndiGo operates around 2,300 domestic and international flights daily.

Pieter Elbers, while apologising for the major inconvenience due to delays and cancellations, said the situation is a result of various causes.

The crisis at IndiGo stems from new regulations that boost pilots' weekly rest requirements by 12 hours to 48 and allow only two night-time landings per week, down from six. IndiGo has attributed the mass cancellations to "misjudgment and planning gaps".

Elbers also listed three lines of action that the airline will adopt to address the issue.

"Firstly, customer communication and addressing your needs, for this, messages have been sent on social media. And just now, a more detailed communication with information, refunds, cancellations and other customer support measures was sent," he said.

The airline has also stepped up its call centre capacity.

"Secondly, due to yesterday's situation, we had customers stranded mostly at the nation's largest airports. Our focus was for all of them to be able to travel today itself, which will be achieved. For this, we also ask customers whose flights are cancelled not to come to the airports as notifications are sent," the CEO said.

"Thirdly, cancellations were made for today to align our crew and planes to be where they need to start tomorrow morning afresh. Earlier measures of the last few days, regrettable, have proven not to be enough, but we have decided today to reboot all our systems and schedules, resulting in the highest numbers of cancellations so far, but imperative for progressive improvements starting from tomorrow," he added.

As airports witnessed chaotic scenes, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) stepped in to grant IndiGo a temporary exemption from stricter night duty rules for pilots. It also allowed substitution of leaves with a weekly rest period.

Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu has said a high-level inquiry will be ordered and accountability will be fixed.

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