Operation Blue Star ( ਬਿਲਯੂ ਸਟਾਰ , बिल्यू स्टार ) (June 3 to June 6, 1984) was an Indian military operation ordered by Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India to remove Sikh militants laying siege on the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The operation was launched in response to a deteriorating law and order problem in the Punjab. The reasons for both late action and heavy army assault is highly debated among historians and intellectuals. The operation was carried out by Indian army troops with tanks and armoured vehicles. Militarily successful, it is considered to be a political disaster and an un-precedented act in modern Indian history. The military assault on the Golden Temple caused an uproar among Sikhs all over the world. In India, many Sikhs resigned from armed and civil administrative offices and returned their government awards. Revenge for the desecration of the Sikh shrine was pledged by many of the community, resulting in the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards.