New Delhi, April 7
Former Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani’s book “My country, my life” has run into yet another controversy. This time the Sikh community here has taken umbrage at the reference to the events in the days preceding Operation Bluestar in June 1984.
Reacting to reference on page 430 of the book, the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee has sought an apology from Advani and the BJP for its alleged “role of an instigator” in the days preceding the Operation. The DSGMC’s former president H.S. Sarna today apportioned blame on the BJP saying “it had also demanded action” in the days before the Operation was carried out.
Advani, in his book, blames Indira Gandhi for the way she tackled the issue and allowed militants to take control of the holy shrine and demanded action against Bhindranwale.
Notably, the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal, led by Parkash Singh Badal, are long standing alliance partners at the national level and in Punjab. More than a million strong Sikh community resides in Delhi.
Sarna’s objection is that on page 430 the book, when dealing with militancy in Punjab during 1984 says, “…on May 3 Atalji, along with Charan Singh, led a contingent of 15,000 protestors to court arrest, following it with another large contingent of demonstrators the next day. I raised the issue in Parliament, charging the government with abdication of its responsibility in the face of an unprecedented challenge to national unity and the rule of law.”
In the next paragraph the book says “… the Prime Minister was ultimately forced to use the military to liberate the Golden Temple from its anti-national occupants”.
