Ahead of the parliamentary polls, political parties in Punjab have once again gone back to 30 years and brought their favourite subject — Operation Bluestar and 1984 anti-Sikh riots to garner votes.
Both Congress and the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) are again raising the issue of Operation Bluestar and the involvement of leaders from the respective parties this time. Almost three decades have lapsed, yet both the Congress and the Akali Dal are back to their age old tactics of exploiting this issue like a fresh one while the main issues, that actually concern the people, are taking a backseat.
Notwithstanding the high rate of unemployment, rising prices, farmers’ suicide, stagnant peasantry, burdening taxes, increasing drug menace, deadly cancer problem, poor health and education facilities, and what not in the State, the political parties are raising these “ancient” sensitive issues just to take political mileage out of it by raking up emotions of the Sikh community.
The issue was once again brought alive recently after the Congress national vice-president Rahul Gandhi, in a candid television interview, admitted that 1984 anti-Sikh riots were “absolutely wrong” and “some Congressmen were involved”.
The controversy was fanned further with the British Government declassifying the documents revealing that India had sought British advice before ordering the flushing out of heavily armed militants led by separatist leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale from the Golden Temple complex.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague had recently confirmed that Britain had advised the then Indian Government ahead of June 1984 storming of Golden Temple by the Indian Army but clarified that Britain had no operational involvement in Operation Bluestar.
But, this was just one case. Both Congress and Akali Dal make the most of this susceptible issue and rake up especially when the elections are round the corner. Be it the parliamentary polls, or the Assembly of just Gurdwara elections, they use it for their political gain in elections.
Projecting itself as the party for Sikh cause, the SAD had promised to set up Special Courts to punish those involved in 1984 anti-Sikh riots in its 2007 Assembly election manifesto, and also before that too, but nothing has been done so far when the State Government is serving its second term in Punjab.
Also, the SAD (Delhi) led by Congress backed Paramjit Singh Sarna, that ruled the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) for several decades, had failed to ensure houses, jobs, compensation to the 1984 riots victims.
Moreover, the SAD had all along been accusing the Congress for shielding the perpetrators of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and bestowing them with senior posts, including Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar.
Even as the Congress and Akali Dal are accusing each other of “trying to make political capital out of the situation”, the leaders from both the parties are not letting down their attack.
While the Congress, led by former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, is attacking the SAD, especially Chief Minister and SAD patron Parkash Singh Badal, for playing “negative role” at the time of negotiations, the Akali Dal has been charging the party for carrying out the operation that led to mass killing of thousands of hundreds of innocent people.
Akali Dal has also targeted the Congress for harbouring the culprits, and delaying the justice. On the other hand, Amarinder claimed that the BJP and RSS leaders were also involved in the riots, while maintaining that 442 people were convicted for the riots, and 49 of them were sentenced to life imprisonment, besides three to 10-year or more imprisonment.
Now, with 2014 lok Sabha elections close at hand, the political parties are once again raking the issue just as they did in previous parliamentary polls, in Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee elections, DSGMC polls, 2012 Punjab assembly and 2013 Delhi Assembly polls.