Amritsar. On the 40th anniversary of Operation ‘Bluestar’ in Amritsar, Punjab, supporters and activists of radical Sikh organizations raised slogans in support of Khalistan on Thursday. Activists of various organizations, including Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) led by Simranjit Singh Mann and the faction of former MP Dhyan Singh Mand, raised these slogans at the Akal Takht, the highest institution of the Sikhs. Mann, who recently lost the election from Sangrur Lok Sabha seat, was also present during this time. Some Sikh youths led by radical organization Dal Khalsa were seen carrying Khalistani flags and pictures of the damaged Akal Takht in their hands.
Besides, Dal Khalsa activists carried placards with photos of slain extremist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was killed in Canada last year. Pro-Khalistan slogans were heard in the premises of the Golden Temple, the holiest Sikh shrine, near the Akal Takht. Some Sikh youths carried banners and placards that read ‘Khalistan Zindabad’. Elaborate security arrangements have been made in Amritsar to ensure that the events marking the anniversary of Operation Bluestar pass off peacefully.
Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh in his message to the Sikh community, referring to hardline Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh and Sarabjit Singh Khalsa, son of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassin Beant Singh, said that both the Sikhs who won the Lok Sabha elections as independent candidates should raise their voice in Parliament for the release of ‘Bandi Singhs’ (Sikh prisoners who have completed their jail sentence). Amritpal Singh, head of the organisation ‘Waris Punjab De’, won from Khadoor Sahib and Khalsa from Faridkot Lok Sabha seat.
Amritpal Singh is currently lodged in Assam’s Dibrugarh jail under the National Security Act. Giani Raghbir Singh said the need of the hour was that Sikh preachers and scholars should go to villages to preach Sikhism, make the youth aware of the rich Sikh principles and history and unite them under the banner of Akal Takht. The Jathedar declared that Bhindranwale and his supporters killed during ‘Operation Bluestar’ in 1984 were ‘martyrs’. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the apex religious body of the Sikhs, displayed the bullet-riddled holy ‘Saroop’ of the Guru Granth Sahib. In June 1984, the army carried out Operation ‘Bluestar’ to flush out armed terrorists hiding in the Golden Temple. It was during this operation that the ‘Saroop’ was hit by bullets.
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