BBC news presenter subjected to deluge of personal abuse

January 17, 2010 07:33 pm | Updated December 15, 2016 11:01 pm IST - London

A BBC news anchor of Indian origin has been subjected to a deluge of personal abuse for presenting a documentary about ‘Operation Blue Star’, when the Indian army barged at Amritsar’s Golden Temple in 1984.

Sonia Deol was forced to delete her page on Facebook website amid a barrage of criticism from fellow Sikhs.

During ‘Operation Blue Star’, some 500 Sikh separatists and their controversial religious leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who were in favour of a independent state (Khalistan) for Sikhs, were holed up in the Golden Temple.

The assault was carried out at the order of then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on June 4, 1984. During the attack, Indian soldiers stormed inside temple premises killing many separatists, Daily Mail reported.

Now protesters are planning a mass boycott of the licence fee in protest against what they claimed a slur on Bhindranwale, who was killed in the raid with many claiming he was depicted in the film in a similar way to Osama Bin Laden.

Many Sikhs, particularly supporters of Khalistan consider him a saint and are furious that in Deol’s documentary, 1984: A Sikh Story, he was described as a militant.

Bhindranwale and the armed supporters took refuge in the holy place, fearing arrest amid rising Sikh-Hindu tensions.

Deol, who hosts BBC Breakfast at weekends and News 24 bulletins, deleted her Facebook profile on Wednesday after the row escalated.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.