BLUESTAR ANNIV: JATHEDAR FACES HEAT
Barring proKhalistan slogans by radicals, no untoward incident reported
AMRITSAR: Akal Takht jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh faced protests and pro-Khalistan slogans from radical Sikhs as he delivered his annual “sandesh” (message) on the 33rd anniversary of Operation Bluestar at Akal Takht (the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs) on Tuesday morning. The annual event is held at the Akal Takht to commemorate the military operation carried out in 1984 to flush out terrorists holed up in the Golden Temple. Slogans were raised against the jathedar when he started his customary address. The situation became tense when Dhian Singh Mand, the parallel jathedar appointed during the radical Sarbat Khalsa, showed keenness to address the gathering.
AMRITSAR: Akal Takht jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh faced protests and pro-Khalistan slogans from radical Sikhs as he delivered his annual “sandesh” (message) on the 33rd anniversary of Operation Bluestar at Akal Takht (the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs) on Tuesday morning.
The annual event is held at the Akal Takht to commemorate the military operation carried out in 1984 to flush out terrorists holed up in the Golden Temple.
Slogans were raised against the jathedar when he started his customary address. The situation became tense when Dhian Singh Mand, the acting jathedar appointed by radical groups during the Sarbat Khalsa (a religiopolitical congregation of Sikhs) in 2015, wanted to address the gathering. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) denied him the public address system following which one of his supporters broke a speaker at the Akal Takht.
Later, Mand’s supporters made arrangements and he read out the message in front of the Akal Takht in the presence of SAD (Amritsar) chief Simranjit Singh Mann and Baljit Singh Daduwal, who was appointed acting jathedar of the Takht Damdama Sahib by radical Sikhs in 2016.
“Nobody has come here to listen to Giani Gurbachan Singh. He has lost our trust. This is why there were protests. We need to remove him,” said Mand.
Mann slammed the successive governments for failing to ensure justice to Sikhs.
Barring slogans against the jathedar, no untoward incident was reported. The SGPC task force and police in civvies kept a tight vigil to thwart a repeat of 2014 clash in which eight persons were injured.
The city was turned into a fortress with about 5,000 security personnel, comprising seven companies of paramilitary forces, being deployed outside the shrine and on every road leading to the Golden Temple.
The memorial dedicated to those killed during the 1984 army action on the Golden Temple witnessed a steady stream of visitors.
Earlier the “bhog” ceremony of the “akhand path” started by the SGPC to commemorate the Operation Bluestar anniversary was also done.
All India Sikh Students Federation (Peer Mohammad) also took out a march from Gurudwara Shaheedan Sahib to the Golden Temple to mark the occasion.
TAKSAL HONOURS KIN OF SLAIN MILITANTS
Damdami Taksal, a Sikh seminary, organised a religious function on Tuesday to mark the 33rd anniversary of Operation Bluestar at its headquarters in Chowk Mehta, 25km from Amritsar.
During the function, attended by Akal Takht jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh, office-bearers of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), tributes were paid to Taksal’s former chief Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and others who were killed during the army operation in 1984. The Taksal also honoured kin of slain militants.
Taksal chief Harnam Singh Dhumma presented resolutions asking the Union government to return rare Sikh scriptures and literature which were allegedly taken away by the army from Sikh Reference Library at the Golden Temple during Operation Bluestar.
It also demanded return of Bhindranwale’s arrow, besides establishing a “shahidi gallery” in the basement of the memorial built in memory of those killed during the operation. Akal Takht jathedar appreciated the efforts of the Taksal. SGPC chief Kirpal Singh Badungar targeted Sikh hardliners for disrupting the function at Akal Takht and advised the Sikhs to be conscious in identifying the enemies within the religion.
Takht Patna Sahib jathedar Giani Iqbal Singh expressed concern over decline in Sikh ethos in youngsters, while DSGMC president Manjit Singh GK said the army operation on Golden Temple was a deep-rooted conspiracy against Sikhs.