SGPC to observe Operation Bluestar anniversary

Amritsar, May 22

As per the orders of the Akal Takht, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has announced to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Operation Bluestar as the third Ghallughara (genocide).

On May 18, the Five High Priests from the Akal Takht had declared that the Sikh Sangat would observe ‘Shahidi Saptah’ between June 1 and 6. The Gurmat ceremonies should be held at every gurdwara of the country and abroad and the people should be made aware of the history of it.

SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami said that as per directions from the Akal Takht, the whole Sikh community from all over the globe should be part of the occasion. “In June 1984, the then Congress government at the Centre had attacked the Golden Temple premises and the Sikh community remembers it as the third ‘Ghallughara’ every year,” he said.

He said that as a mark of protest against the government atrocities, the male Sikh community members were directed to sport black turbans and females black stoles from June 4 to 6.

The SGPC president said that the government should have apologised for this heinous act, but the story of injustice and discrimination with the Sikhs continued. “Even today, justice was not being done in the cases of ‘Bandi Singhs’(Sikh political prisoners). Even after serving more than three decades of punishment, they are not being released, which is a great injustice to the Sikh community and a serious violation of human rights,” he said.