Operation Bluestar anniversary passes off peacefully at Golden Temple in Amritsar

GS Paul

Amritsar, June 6

Barring mild pro-Khalistan sloganeering by radical Sikh organisations, the 40th anniversary of Operation Bluestar went off peacefully at the jam-packed Akal Takht precincts in the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar.

There was no brandishing of swords or any violent display during the event.

Supporters of SAD (Amritsar) led by its president Simranjit Singh Maan, who lost Sangrur Lok Sabha seat in recent elections, were among those who carried the posters of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and the damaged structure of Akal Takht post Operation Bluestar, raised pro-Khalistan slogans for few minutes.

Emotions ran high among the common devotees after having a glimpse of the bullet-riddled saroop of Sri Guru Granth Sahib that was ‘injured’ during Operation Bluestar in 1984 and was put on display at a gurdwara located just behind Akal Takht. This saroop enshrined in the Sanctum Sanctorum of the Golden Temple was hit by a bullet during the operation. It pierces its 25 ‘angs’ (pages) before it got stuck on its title cover. The particular bullet shell was also on the display.

Meanwhile, Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghubir Singh read out the customary message from the Akal Takht podium.

While recalling history, the Jathedar mentioned how Sikhs fought for their rights and against atrocities by the rulers of Mughal era and the Operation Bluestar in the Golden Temple complex, followed by another Operation Woodroze (carried out by the then-Congress Government to curb armed insurgency in the Punjab region), post Partition. He appealed to the Sikhs to be united against the anti-Sikh forces.