Islamabad: The storming of the Golden Temple, the Sikhs’ holiest shrine in Amritsar, India, in June 1984 is an ugly scar on the so-called Indian democracy while the victims of Blue Star Operation and those killed in the ensuing bloody chain of anti-Sikh riots are still awaiting justice.
According to a report, Indian army massacred thousands of Sikhs including pilgrims during its attack on the Golden Temple between June 1 and 10, 1984. Indian army backed by tanks and artillery guns reduced the Sikhs’ holiest shrine to rubble besides killing thousands.
The report mentioned that HR violations were being perpetrated against the Sikhs even before the Operation Blue Star, while the Indian army’s 1984 assault on the Sikh holiest shrine in Amritsar was a sacrilegious act as well. The operation marked the official beginning of a policy of HR violations against Sikhs and a systematic purge of the community on a large-scale in India.
Sikh activists and leaders have marked the ‘Operation Blue Star’ as the “Ghallughara” (genocide) of the Sikhs and are not ready to forget the killing of their great leader Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale, a bold man who awakened Sikhs against Indian imperialism. Indian authorities had imposed draconian media restrictions to hide the gruesome crimes committed against Sikhs during the ‘Operation Blue Star’.
AP news agency quoting post-mortem medical reports had said that several people inside the Golden Temple were killed by the Army in cold blood.
The New York Times had written an editorial ‘Truth on Trial – in India’ while referring to the Indian govt’s censorship during ‘Operation Blue Star’ in 1984.
Following the Sikhs ruthless killing after ‘Operation Blue Star’, over 20,000 Sikh families fearing for their life had to migrate out of India. Many Sikhs resigned from services and returned awards they had received from the Indian govt in protest against the attack on Golden Temple. Indian govt came out with a concocted and fabricated ‘White Paper’ on Operation Blue Star, but no one believed it.
The operation was a deliberate move not only to kill Sikhs but also to desecrate their holiest religious place, which has left deep scars on the psyche of Sikh and they would rest until they achieve a separate homeland, Khalistan.
The report maintained that the Sikhs’ fight against India is actually a war against Hindutva hegemony and will not let Modi’s hegemonic designs to succeed. Web Desk
