Chandigarh: Members of various Sikh organisations participated in the 41st Operation Bluestar anniversary that was observed peacefully at Golden Temple, Amritsar, amid tight security on Friday.
It may be recalled that it was following damage to the building of the Akal Takht – the supreme temporal seat of Sikhs - in the Operation Bluestar by army in 1984 a new structure of the Akal Takht was built in 1998 and 1999 and the radical Sikh outfit Dal Khalsa started observing the June 6 anniversary since.
However, this year, the officiating Jathedar of the Akal Takht, Kuldeep Singh Gargaj, did not deliver the traditional message to Sikhs for the first time since 1999, though he raised various issues concerning the community in the `ardas’ (prayer). He did so to avoid a confrontation with Sikh seminary Damdami Taksal chief Harnam Singh Dhuma and other radical leaders who opposed his recent appointment as officiating Jathedar of Akal Takht.
He performed `ardas’ seeking the release of Sikh prisoners in jails even after completion of their terms, unity of the panth and a prayer for Punjab not becoming a battleground in the India-Pakistan conflict.
However, he neither delivered an address to the community nor felicitated the Sikh families whose members were killed during 1984 Op Bluestar. Instead Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder singh Dhami felicitated the Sikh families who had lost their near and dear ones in the Operation Bluestar.
Meanwhile the pro-Khalistan slogans echoed in the entire periphery of the Golden Temple; Also, a bandh was also observed in the key markets of Amritsar on the call given by radical Sikh outfits.
