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India Damdami Taksal Asserts Itself In Dedicating Memorial To Bhindranwale

Jan 6, 2005
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Damdami Taksal asserts itself in dedicating memorial to Bhindranwale

Sunday, April, 28 2013 - 16:43

By Jagtar Singh-

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CHANDIGARH:
Much to the chagrin of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Shiromani Akali Dal President and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, the Damdami Taksal has asserted itself in naming the memorial raised in the Golden Temple complex to its 14th chief Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.

The memorial was inaugurated yesterday at a low profile ceremony in the presence of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Avtar Singh Makkar and Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh. Sources maintain that it was kept a low key ceremony on the instructions of Badal.

It may be maintained that Badal and the Shiromani Akali Dal chief has repeatedly maintained that it would not be named after any individual and no photographs would be displayed in this memorial. It would simply be a gurdwara.

It is a gurdwara but it is named after Bhindranwale. In a subtle move, his photograph has also been displayed embossed on a wall clock.

Sources maintain that the decision to name the memorial after Sant Bhindranwale was kept as a closely guarded secret by Damdami Taksal chief Harnam Singh Dhumma. The marble plaque naming the memorial was covered with flower garlands immediately after it was pout up. Both Makkar and Jathedar Gurbachan Singh were kept in the dark about it. It came to be known only after the plaque was unveiled after the dedication ceremony.

As the BJP, the alliance partner of the Akali Dal, expressed its reservation to the move to the construction of this memorial, the state government tried to make out that it would be peace memorial in the shape of a gurdwara.

It may be mentioned that the first decision to raise this memorial had taken by the ad hoc committee of the Akali Dal at its meeting on October 7, 1984. The party forgot about it till the issue was recalled towards the end of the term of the Akali Dal government that had come to power in 1997. The SGPC too ignored its own resolution on this issue. When it was finally decided to construct it, the construction was handed over to the Damdami Taksal.

All these years, the Dal Khalsa had been demanding the construction of this memorial.

For the last several years, Dhumma and the Sant Samaj he heads had been support Badal. A mutual trust had come to be developed between Badal and Dhumma. However, Dhumma seems to have finally decided to take the risk of naming the memorial after his predecessor. He had been under attack from a section of radicals for supporting Badal. Perhaps it was his clever strategy to side with Badal toi seek his consent for constructing this memorial. This could not have been possible without Badal’s clearance as the SGPC is controlled by him.

As the memorial has finally been built, a joint statement issued by Badal and Surjit Singh Barnala immediately after Operation Bluestar can be recalled before they went to jail. It reads, “After nearly two centuries of Abdali’s invasion, Sri Akal Takht stands blasted. The Golden Temple complex is drenched with the blood of the Sikh martyrs. Delhi once again has embarked upon a pogrom of systematic and well planned genocide of the Sikh people. The whole of Punjab is under the jackboots of the Indian army and no one can get on the roads or even drive a bicycle in the whole state. Punjab is a prison house. Sikh nation is in chains”. This memorial is in the memory of those very martyrs. This statement never appeared in the press due to censorship but is now part of history.

source: http://www.punjabnewsline.com/news/...f-in-dedicating-memorial-to-Bhindranwale.html
 
Last edited:
Jan 6, 2005
3,450
3,762
Metro-Vancouver, B.C., Canada

Controversy Over Operation Bluestar Memorial

Alarmed, BJP seeks CM’s intervention


Sarbjit Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 29


A delegation of senior BJP leaders today urged Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to mediate and resolve the controversy regarding Operation Bluestar Memorial.

The memorial has been dedicated to Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Sources said the BJP leaders, including its state president Kamal Sharma, minister Madan Mohan Mittal, former minister Balramji Dass Tandon and general secretary (organisation) Ajay Jamwal held a meeting with the Chief Minister on the issue.

Expressing their unhappiness over the development, the leaders reportedly reminded Badal of his assurance in the assembly that the memorial would be a gurdwara in the Golden Temple complex.

Expressing apprehension that some radical elements may take advantage of the development and disturb peace in the state, they asked Badal to ensure that any attempt to vitiate communal harmony in the state should be foiled.

The BJP leaders demanded that the party be allocated at least 50 zila parishad seats for which polling is to be held on May 19 in the state. The BJP leaders sought seats in Bathinda, Sangrur, Mansa, Moga, Barnala and Muktsar districts from where the BJP has no representation in the assembly.

The BJP also sought seats in Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Ropar, Ferozepur districts where it has a significant vote bank.

The SAD and the BJP have decided to jointly contest the zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections. A committee of SAD leader DS Cheema and BJP leader Tikshan Sud has been constituted to decide on seat allotment.

The BJP leaders reportedly told Badal that they would want more than 25 seats and that seats in the Malwa belt would help the party keep its cadre intact.


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SGPC asks Akal Takht chief to resolve issue with Taksal

Perneet Singh/TNS

Amritsar, April 29

To resolve the controversy triggered by the Damdami Taksal’s move to inscribe the name of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale at the entrance of Operation Bluestar Memorial, the SGPC today requested Akal Takht chief Giani Gurbachan Singh and Golden Temple’s Head Granthi Mal Singh to resolve the matter with the Taksal. Rajinder Singh Mehta, SGPC executive member, will coordinate the talks. Sources said Jathedar Gurbachan Singh and Head Granthi Giani Mal Singh may meet Taksal chief Baba Harnam Singh Khalsa tomorrow. They said that SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar had a telephonic talk with Baba Harnam Singh.

As part of damage control, the SGPC has turned around the ‘golak’ kept inside the memorial which had Bhindranwale's name on it. However, there are five more spots where Bhindranwale's name has been inscribed- two marble plaques atop the memorial entrance, two aluminum plaques on either side of the staircase and a board mentioning the history of Operation Bluestar on the left side of the entrance.

The Dal Khalsa today ridiculed the SGPC president's claim that the Taksal had kept him in the dark on the issue of dedicating the memorial to Bhindranwale. Quoting from the resolution passed at the SGPC executive committee meeting on May 3, 2012, party chief HS Dhami said it clearly stated that the “meeting authorises Damdami Taksal head Baba Harnam Singh to raise the memorial near Akal Takht in memory of Sant Bhindranwale" and others killed in the Army operation.

source: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130430/punjab.htm
 

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