By MM Special Correspondent
New Delhi: On the eve of Operation Blue Star’s 32 anniversary, civil sonority groups and political leaders reiterated the demand of bringing out the truth behind attack on the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of Sikhs as it will be a big step forward in the struggle to punish the guilty and put an end to state organized communal violence and terror.
At a public meeting organized by the Lok Raj Sangatha here on Sunday, speakers at the meeting unanimously condemned the operation blue star as they called it ‘‘barbaric attack by the Indian state on the Golden Temple and reiterated the demand that the guilty must be punished”. They called on our people to strengthen our unity and defeat the diabolical designs of the rulers.
In his opening remarks, President of Lok Raj Sangathan, S.Raghavan said that in the beginning of June 1984, the then Indira Gandhi government at the centre sent the army to attack the holiest shrine of the Sikh religion, the Golden Temple in Amritsar. On June 3, the martyrdom day of Guru Arjun Dev, more than 10,000 devotees had gathered at the temple complex.
For 6 days the armed forces kept firing at the temple, bombarded the sacred Akal Takht and ruthlessly massacred all those who were inside the temple complex. He explained that the attack on the Golden Temple was justified by the Indian state in the name of “fighting terrorism” and “defending the unity and integrity of India”. A huge propaganda campaign was carried out to the effect that the government had “no other choice”, that the army attack was necessary to “liberate” the Golden Temple from “Sikh extremists” who were allegedly out to massacre the Hindus and spread terror throughout Punjab. However, to date, no evidence has been furnished to substantiate this, Raghavan said.
Advocate Rajvinder Singh Bains asserted that Operation Blue Star was meticulously planned, several months in advance as he mentioned many incidents to prove his claim.
“Documents declassified by the British government and revealed to the public in 2014, also show that Operation Blue Star was carried out in closed coordination between the Indira Gandhi government and the British government of Margaret Thatcher”.
Echoing his views, Dr. Harish from Punjab also cited more evidence to prove that the attack on the Golden Temple was pre-meditated and organised by the state.
Gurpreet Singh of Kendri Shri Guru Singh Sabha elaborated on the fact that the aim of Operation Blue Star was to portray the people of the Sikh faith as “anti-national”, to whip up anti-Sikh hysteria across the country. N.D.Pancholi of Citizens for Democracy described the ‘gruesome’ attack on Sikhs in 1984 and highlighted the struggle to expose the crimes of the state. The political demands of the people of Punjab were deliberately portrayed as a “law and order” problem. People were called upon to line up behind the policy of state terrorism, in the name of “crushing the enemies of India’s unity and integrity”, he said.
JNU student Umar Khalid spoke of the numerous crimes of the state and its security forces against various communities and sections of the people. He highlighted the state organized violence against the adivasis in Chhattisgarh with the aim of securing the land and mineral resources for loot and plunder by the big monopoly capitalist houses.
Comrade Prakash Rao, spokesperson of the Communist Ghadar Party of India explained that targeting one specific community or another, spreading an atmosphere of communal hatred and suspicion, organizing communal violence and genocide – this is the tried and tested policy and practice of the Indian state, which has been repeated again and again. The guilty are never punished, because those who execute these crimes against the people are themselves in the high seats of power.
Our rulers justify their crimes against the people in the name of “defending the unity and integrity of the country” but in fact, by spreading violence, anarchy and hatred and dividing us, they are the biggest threat to the unity of our people, he said. He called on those present to target the state and not this or that political party or government. Governments are nothing more than managers of the state that defends the interests of the biggest monopoly capitalists and implements their agenda, he said.
Summing up the debate, All India Council member Sucharita pointed out that Lok Raj Sangathan was of the view that bringing out the truth behind Operation Blue Star will be a big step forward in the struggle to punish the guilty and put an end to state organized communal violence and terror.
‘For this, we cannot rely on the agencies of the state. Neither can we rely on various international agencies dominated by the Anglo-American imperialists, because racism, communalism and disinformation are part of the standard operating procedure of the Anglo-American imperialists. Only the united struggle of the people can stop the state organized communal violence and terror. An attack on one is an attack on all! Let us strengthen our unity and take the struggle forward’, she said.
