Amidst tight security arrangements, the 37th anniversary of Operation Blue Star was observed on Sunday at the Sikhs’ highest temporal seat — Akal Takht — in Amritsar. During the event, posters of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and Khalistani flags were seen inside the Golden Temple (Sri Harmandir Sahib).
A large number of people had carried banners and placards saying “Khalistan Zindabad” and raised pro-Khalistan slogans during the event.
Also, the controversial Punjabi movie actor-turned-farmer and political activist actor Deep Sidhu, who hit the headlines for hoisting Sikh religion’s flag at Red Fort along with the Indian tricolor national, was seen at the Akal Takht.
As many as 6,000 policemen were deployed ahead of the anniversary on Sunday which is also a lockdown day in Punjab. Like every year, several Sikh organizations this year too had planned to reach Akal Takht to observe the anniversary.
A programme to mark the event was organized by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC).
Last year, the Punjab police had imposed a lockdown to stop people from proceeding towards the Golden Temple while the anniversary programme was underway.
Operation Blue Star is used to refer to the Indian military action carried out between June 1 and June 10 in 1984, in order to capture the Sikh leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranvale and his followers from the buildings of Harmandir Sahib complex in Amritsar.
Akal Takht officiating Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh, during his customary address to the Sikh community from the Akal Takht’s podium, emphasized on maintaining unity among the Sikhs while tagging the event as “Chaurasi (84) Da Ghallughara” (holocaust).
“Words like ‘Operation Bluestar’ or ‘Saka Neelataara’ must be avoided to refer to the event as it hurt the sentiments,” said Akal Takht Jathedar, amidst pro-Khalistan slogans.
The parallel Jathedar of Akal Takht Dhyan Singh Mand, along with 2015 Sarbat Khalsa main organizer Jarnail Singh Sakhira, also read out the message.
“Like the earlier massacres of Sikhs in 1746 and 1762 by the Mughal empire were termed as ‘chhota ghallughara’ and ‘vadda ghallughara’ in which 7,000 and 35,000 Sikhs were killed, respectively, the 1984 Army attack is nothing short of it,” said Giani Harpreet Singh.
Comparing the Indian Army’s attack on the Golden Temple and Akal Takht with the war between the two nations, he said: “Like, the earlier two ‘ghallugharas’, the third one occurred in 1984 when the Indian Army attacked the Golden Temple, the way China and Pakistan attacked India in 1962 and 1965. Upon attack, the Indian authorities did worse than what the winning forces did with the defeated nation’s citizens.”
He said that many emails were received demanding to term the event as “Amritsar Sikh genocide”, but the attack was not executed only on the Golden Temple complex but on 37 other Sikh shrines across the country. “It was not constrained to Amritsar only. In 1984, the genocide had started on the streets of Delhi, Kanpur, Tata Nagar, and other areas between November 1-4. Hence, it should be termed as ’84 da ghallughara,” he said.
The Jathedar added that the event could never be forgotten and remained like an irreparable wound.
He said that the Sikh organisations, be it SGPC, DSGMC, CKD, Takht Hazur Sahib board, Patna Sahib board and other Sikh organisations, should all unite keeping aside their differences of opinion.