Post by DakuSingh on Jun 2, 2009 19:40:00 GMT
Chandigarh: After prime minister Manmohan Singh suggested,
while campaigning in Punjab during the Lok Sabha elections, that
the 1984 anti-Sikh riots were a "painful episode but cannot be
kept alive for ever", a debate is raging in Punjab whether
Operation Bluestar's anniversary is relevant after 25 years.
Operation Bluestar began at the Golden Temple on June 3, 1984, when the army targeted militants, including Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, holed up inside the temple with tanks, guns and mortars. Over 1,500 people, mostly Sikh devotees, were killed.
The incident, referred to as "ghalu bhara" by Sikhs, has come to symbolise the government's high-handedness on Sikhs. Every year the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandak Committee and radical Sikh organisations observe the operation's anniversary to castigate the Centre, particularly the Congress, for "perpetrating atrocities on the Sikhs".
But this year, former SGPC secretary Manjit Singh Calcutta says, "Bluestar is a fact that can't be wished away. But to live in that moment is retrograde. It's time for Sikhs to move on. Even in the past, Sikhs have built bridges with those who perpetrated excesses at a particular juncture."
Calcutta, a former cabinet minister, who was close to veteran SGPC leader Gurcharan Singh Tohra, said Bluestar was a milestone, but Sikhs needed to go beyond. He said prime minister Manmohan Singh had expressed regret over the incident and had also sought an apology from Sikhs for the unfortunate incident. "So why continue hanging on to the unfortunate happenings," he asked.
Dr Harish Puri, former professor of political science at the Guru Nanak Dev University, however, begged to differ. "It was essential for radical Sikh organisations to keep Bluestar's memory alive to reassert Sikh identity. The community needs to keep it alive in its collective memory for more than religious reasons," he said.
The Dal Khalsa is even more rigid. It has decided to undertake a "genocide remembrance march" on June 3. Its president, Harchranjit Singh Dhami, said "much water has flown since 1984. There was a change in political leadership with some Sikhs at the helm of affairs both at the Centre and the state. This, however, has not healed our wounds. They are still simmering, even after 25 years." He ridiculed Sikh leaders who "in connivance with the Centre, were attempting to erase this period from public memory."
Criticising Manmohan Singh for advocating Sikhs to forget 1984, he said "Sikhs will never forget the brutality of the state, or the supreme sacrifice of around 300 fearless Sikhs who fought till their last breath to defend the sanctity of the holiest shrine".
Radical Sikhs are expected to use the anniversary to revive the Khalistan call. Last year Akali Dal (Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Mann had adopted a resolution that "attack on the Golden Temple would only lay the foundation stone for Khalistan".
Apart from radical Sikhs even the Hurriyat Conference participated in last year's anniversary. Chairman of the breakaway Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani, under house arrest in Srinagar, addressed the conference over telephone. And Prof SAR Geelani, acquitted in the Parliament attack case, attended last year's conclave.
while campaigning in Punjab during the Lok Sabha elections, that
the 1984 anti-Sikh riots were a "painful episode but cannot be
kept alive for ever", a debate is raging in Punjab whether
Operation Bluestar's anniversary is relevant after 25 years.
Operation Bluestar began at the Golden Temple on June 3, 1984, when the army targeted militants, including Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, holed up inside the temple with tanks, guns and mortars. Over 1,500 people, mostly Sikh devotees, were killed.
The incident, referred to as "ghalu bhara" by Sikhs, has come to symbolise the government's high-handedness on Sikhs. Every year the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandak Committee and radical Sikh organisations observe the operation's anniversary to castigate the Centre, particularly the Congress, for "perpetrating atrocities on the Sikhs".
But this year, former SGPC secretary Manjit Singh Calcutta says, "Bluestar is a fact that can't be wished away. But to live in that moment is retrograde. It's time for Sikhs to move on. Even in the past, Sikhs have built bridges with those who perpetrated excesses at a particular juncture."
Calcutta, a former cabinet minister, who was close to veteran SGPC leader Gurcharan Singh Tohra, said Bluestar was a milestone, but Sikhs needed to go beyond. He said prime minister Manmohan Singh had expressed regret over the incident and had also sought an apology from Sikhs for the unfortunate incident. "So why continue hanging on to the unfortunate happenings," he asked.
Dr Harish Puri, former professor of political science at the Guru Nanak Dev University, however, begged to differ. "It was essential for radical Sikh organisations to keep Bluestar's memory alive to reassert Sikh identity. The community needs to keep it alive in its collective memory for more than religious reasons," he said.
The Dal Khalsa is even more rigid. It has decided to undertake a "genocide remembrance march" on June 3. Its president, Harchranjit Singh Dhami, said "much water has flown since 1984. There was a change in political leadership with some Sikhs at the helm of affairs both at the Centre and the state. This, however, has not healed our wounds. They are still simmering, even after 25 years." He ridiculed Sikh leaders who "in connivance with the Centre, were attempting to erase this period from public memory."
Criticising Manmohan Singh for advocating Sikhs to forget 1984, he said "Sikhs will never forget the brutality of the state, or the supreme sacrifice of around 300 fearless Sikhs who fought till their last breath to defend the sanctity of the holiest shrine".
Radical Sikhs are expected to use the anniversary to revive the Khalistan call. Last year Akali Dal (Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Mann had adopted a resolution that "attack on the Golden Temple would only lay the foundation stone for Khalistan".
Apart from radical Sikhs even the Hurriyat Conference participated in last year's anniversary. Chairman of the breakaway Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani, under house arrest in Srinagar, addressed the conference over telephone. And Prof SAR Geelani, acquitted in the Parliament attack case, attended last year's conclave.
