Security arrangements in the city have been beefed up ahead of June 6, on which falls the 29th anniversary of Operation Blue Star. Vigil has been stepped up around the walled region especially, to avoid any untoward incident.
The anniversary attains significance as it will be the first function after the completion of the memorial for those who died defending the Golden Temple shrine from the Indian Army in 1984. Different organisations have announced their respective programmes, raising tensions, indicated reports. However, the State’s Deputy Chief Minister, Sukhbir Singh Badal, who is opposed to the implementation of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) in States, observed that gross insensitivity by Central forces had complicated matters for States. Without taking the local situation into account, “Operation Blue Star” was launched by the Central forces on the martyrdom anniversary of Guru Arjan Dev, which resulted in a large number of casualties among innocent pilgrims.
Meanwhile, amid major security deployment, radical Sikh organisation Dal Khalsa organised its “Genocide Remembrance Parade” in the streets of Amritsar, where participants raised slogans in favour of the fiery militant leader Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who was killed during “Operation Blue Star”. Brandishing placards, the participants marched from the organisation’s office near the Railway station, passed through the walled city streets and concluded at the Akal Takhat after performing ardas (prayer service) at the newly-constructed memorial.
Dal Khalsa chief Harcharanjit Singh Dhami demanded that the State government release a list of all those men, women and children killed by the Army in the Golden Temple complex that fateful day. He said the wounds of June 1984 had not healed as the Sikh Nation nursed agony and anguish against the tyranny of the Indian state, especially against the role played by the Congress.
Party spokesman Kanwar Pal Singh said the parade was conducted to reiterate the cause for thousands of Sikhs who laid down their lives in 1984 while defending their faith.
Some anxious moments were witnessed, as some of the marchers protested against the action of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, which had locked the entrance to the basement of the Blue Star memorial, where a gallery has been set up.
