Army doesn’t have any missing items: Centre
PATIALA: The Indian Army does not possess any manuscripts and other historical documents reportedly missing from the Golden Temple after Operation Bluestar in 1984, the defence ministry has said. It claims the manuscripts and other items were handed over to the state government and other agencies, but it mentions no dates.
In response to a plea by Patiala MP Dharamvira Gandhi on July 7, the ministry said about the manuscripts, purportedly found during the operation to flush out militants from the Sikh shrine in Amritsar, that these “were handed over to Mohan Singh, curator, museum, Punjab government”.
It added, “Other items were handed over to functionaries of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC); government treasurer, Amritsar; and the CBI.”
The SGPC says 15,000 rare books, 16,000 artefacts related to Sikh religion and history, edicts issued by the 10 gurus, and handwritten ‘birs’ (copies) of Guru Granth Sahib were among the items missing. Gandhi said he, for now, only wanted the ministry to bring the issue of missing documents on record, which he has achieved.
In the latest in his series of efforts, he had written to home minister Rajnath Singh for return of the material, but his plea was referred to the defence ministry on May 31.
“I will meet SGPC officials now to approach the Centre again to trace the documents, which are not only a treasure for the Sikh community but also for Hindus and Punjab as a whole,” said the MP. SGPC president Kirpal Singh Badungar said the central ministries have been “lying repeatedly over such sensitive issues”. “Where are the rare manuscripts and documents then, if the army claims to have not taken them away?” he asked.
The state government, besides the SGPC, have approached the Centre on multiple occasions over the years for “return” of the items held at the Sikh Reference Library in the Golden Temple complex till June 7, 1984, when the operation ended.
But the defence ministry had said all material seized was handed over to intelligence agencies.
The matter had come to light when a former sub-inspector associated with the CBI in 1984 had claimed that the material was shifted to an undisclosed location by the army and CBI officials.
THE SGPC SAYS 15,000 RARE BOOKS, 16,000 ARTEFACTS, EDICTS ISSUED BY THE 10 GURUS AMONG ITEMS MISSING