Amritsar, Jun 6 (PTI) Pro-Khalistan slogans were on Friday raised by supporters and activists of radical Sikh outfits at the Akal Takht, the supreme temporal seat of Sikhs, while a peaceful bandh was observed around the Golden Temple and the interior walled city on the 41st anniversary of Operation Bluestar.

Breaking a 40-year-old tradition of the annual address on the anniversary of Operation Blue Star, officiating Jathedar of Akal Takht Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj did not deliver the customary message to the Sikh community this time as he concluded his message in the ‘ardas’ (prayer according to Sikh rituals) ceremony from the Akal Takht to avoid any controversy.

While concluding his address during the ardas, the Jathedar said this pious spiritual place (Golden Temple and Akal Takht) should never be a place of turmoil as everybody wants peace here.

Radical Sikh outfit Dal Khalsa activists were seen holding placards bearing portraits of slain militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and also Khalistani flags.

The entire periphery of the Golden Temple near the Akal Takht echoed with pro-Khalistan slogans. Pro-Khalistan slogans were raised by the activists of outfits including the Dal Khalsa, former MP Simranjit Singh Mann-led Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) and his associate and former MP Dhian Singh Mand at the Akal Takht.

Operation Bluestar was a military operation carried out in 1984 to flush out militants from the Golden Temple.

Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj, while reading ardas, said all Sikh outfits should unitedly apply untiring efforts for the release of ‘Bandhi Singhs’ (Sikh prisoners).

As claimed by parties like Shiromani Akali Dal and other Sikh bodies, Bandi Singhs are those Sikh prisoners who were in jail even after the completion of their sentences.

Harjinder Singh Dhami, president of the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), the apex religious body of the Sikhs, honoured the family members of the Sikh leaders who were killed along with Bhindranwale in the Golden Temple complex during the Army action in June 1984.

According to tradition, it was the Jathedar Akal Takht who every year honours the families of those who were killed in the Army action but this year it was done by the SGPC president.

Damdami Taksal chief Harnam Singh Dhumma had earlier opposed the recent appointment of Gargaj as the officiating Jathedar of the Akal Takht in violation of ‘maryada’ and ‘panthic traditions’.

Dhumma had also objected to the recent appointment of the officiating Jathedar Akal Takht, saying all Sikh religious outfits were not taken into confidence by the SGPC at the time of appointment.

Dhumma had warned the SGPC stating that the Jathedar should not be allowed to deliver his message from the Akal Takht ‘faseel’ (facade) as was being done for the past 40 years.

However, the officiating Jathedar delivered his message while reading ardas from the platform of Akal Takht.

The ‘Shaheedi Samagam’ (martyrdom congregation) commemorating the June 1984 ‘ghallughara’ (holocaust) concluded at the Akal Takht.

On this occasion, a ‘gurmat samagam’ (religious congregation) was organised by the SGPC with the support of various Sikh organisations including Damdami Taksal, Nihang Singh Sampradas and Singh Sabhas.

Following the concluding ceremony (bhog) of Sri Akhand Path Sahib and Gurbani Kirtan, Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj, officiating Jathedar of the Akal Takht and Jathedar of Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib, offered the concluding ardas.

In his ardas, Jathedar Gargaj prayed for strength, unity, harmony and togetherness within the Khalsa Panth and sought blessings for the community “to follow in the footsteps of the community’s warriors and martyrs”.

Speaking to the media later, Jathedar Gargaj expressed strong objection to “the planned events being held in Batala city under the name ‘crusade’, in the context of religious conversions”.

He stated that Punjab is the land sanctified by the Sikh Gurus and seeds of hatred must not be sown here.

He emphasised the need for the Sikh community to respond to this issue with compassion and to embrace those who have drifted toward other faiths.

The Jathedar thanked all the Sikh organisations and prominent personalities for the peaceful commemoration of the ‘June 1984 Ghallughara Shaheedi Samagam’. PTI JMS SUN VSD KSS KSS