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Do you support Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Punjab?
Published on October 21, 2012 by Jim Jamieson
Former Indian Army General, K.S. Brar, a key player in the
controversial military assault on the Golden Temple in 1984,
was recently attacked in London.
By Gurpreet Singh
Radio India
The recent attack on a former Indian Army General, K.S. Brar in London has once again opened up the old wounds. Brar was instrumental in a controversial army operation that was launched to flush out religious extremists, who had fortified the Golden Temple Complex, the holiest shrine of the Sikhs in Amritsar in 1984. Dubbed as Operation Bluestar, the military assault had left many dead and the buildings inside the shrine scarred with bullets and heavy shelling sparking angry protests from the Sikhs across the world. Brar was allegedly stabbed by the Sikhs during his private visit to London. So far two people have been charged.
This co-incided with the ongoing attempts to build a monument in memory of the militants and innocent civilians, who died during the Operation Bluestar. This is an initiatvie of the Akali Dal, a mainstream Sikh political party that currently rules Punjab also enjoys hold over the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, an apex Sikh religious body that looks after the Sikh temples’ affairs. Ironically, the BJP- a Hindu nationalist ally of the Akali Dal is seeking a memorial for the army officials who died during the battle. This speaks of political opportunism to keep both the Hindu and Sikh fundamentalists happy apart from sending across a single of Hindu-Sikh unity.
The Operation Bluestar and the subsequent events, like the assassination of the Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi by her Sikh body guards and the anti Sikh pogrom engineered by Gandhi’s Congress party were the result of the dangerous {censored}tail of religion and politics. While the so called secularist Congress party was behind the creation of the Sikh fundamentalist forces in Punjab, the Akali Dal because of its own compulsions of the religion based politics let these fundamentalists turn a religious shrine into a fortress. Whereas, the Congress was aiming to weaken the Akali Dal by propping up a parallel force, the Akali Dal was trying to use the same force to its own advantage. The Frankenstein monster that was born as a result of this experiment ultimately proved harmul to everyone.
The Hindus and the moderate Sikhs became targets of attacks by the Sikh militants. What the government thought as a final solution to terrorism actually turned out to be a miscalculation. The Operation Bluestar bred more terrorism and violence and alienated the Sikhs from the national mainstream. The 1985 Air India bombings were also a fallout of these ugly events. A decade long terrorist violence in Punjab left over 25,000 people dead. There was massive respression from both the security forces and the militants. Though the peace has finally returned to Punjab, there is no closure in the lives of the people who died at the hands of the police and the Congress goons. Not a single prominent Congress leader has been convicted for the 1984 violence. Even the Akali Dal that promised to bring the guilty police officials to book and order a judicial enquiry into circumstances that led to the beginning of Sikh separatism has backed off from its promises. Unlike Canada and South Africa where Truth and Reconciliation Commissions have brought some closure into the lives of the Aboriginals and Blacks respectively, the people of Punjab continu to wait for an honest attempt to assuage their wounds. As a result debate over separate Sikh homeland or “persecution” refuse to die. In places like Canada or London, the Sikh separatists have succeeded in indoctrinating a new generation of radical youth, whose point of reference remains the bloody events of 1984. The assault on Brar should be seen in a broader context of this new form of militancy outside India. By failing to deliver justice, the Indian establishment has actually strengthened the hands of such sectarian forces. If nothing else is possible, at least a Truth and Reconciliation Commission should be established to bring a dignified closure in the lives of the victims of terrorist violence and state repression. This can at least shame those Indian politicians who played with the lives of innocent people.
source: http://www.vancouverdesi.com/news/do-you-support-truth-and-reconciliation-commission-for-punjab/
Published on October 21, 2012 by Jim Jamieson
Former Indian Army General, K.S. Brar, a key player in the
controversial military assault on the Golden Temple in 1984,
was recently attacked in London.
By Gurpreet Singh
Radio India
The recent attack on a former Indian Army General, K.S. Brar in London has once again opened up the old wounds. Brar was instrumental in a controversial army operation that was launched to flush out religious extremists, who had fortified the Golden Temple Complex, the holiest shrine of the Sikhs in Amritsar in 1984. Dubbed as Operation Bluestar, the military assault had left many dead and the buildings inside the shrine scarred with bullets and heavy shelling sparking angry protests from the Sikhs across the world. Brar was allegedly stabbed by the Sikhs during his private visit to London. So far two people have been charged.
This co-incided with the ongoing attempts to build a monument in memory of the militants and innocent civilians, who died during the Operation Bluestar. This is an initiatvie of the Akali Dal, a mainstream Sikh political party that currently rules Punjab also enjoys hold over the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, an apex Sikh religious body that looks after the Sikh temples’ affairs. Ironically, the BJP- a Hindu nationalist ally of the Akali Dal is seeking a memorial for the army officials who died during the battle. This speaks of political opportunism to keep both the Hindu and Sikh fundamentalists happy apart from sending across a single of Hindu-Sikh unity.
The Operation Bluestar and the subsequent events, like the assassination of the Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi by her Sikh body guards and the anti Sikh pogrom engineered by Gandhi’s Congress party were the result of the dangerous {censored}tail of religion and politics. While the so called secularist Congress party was behind the creation of the Sikh fundamentalist forces in Punjab, the Akali Dal because of its own compulsions of the religion based politics let these fundamentalists turn a religious shrine into a fortress. Whereas, the Congress was aiming to weaken the Akali Dal by propping up a parallel force, the Akali Dal was trying to use the same force to its own advantage. The Frankenstein monster that was born as a result of this experiment ultimately proved harmul to everyone.
The Hindus and the moderate Sikhs became targets of attacks by the Sikh militants. What the government thought as a final solution to terrorism actually turned out to be a miscalculation. The Operation Bluestar bred more terrorism and violence and alienated the Sikhs from the national mainstream. The 1985 Air India bombings were also a fallout of these ugly events. A decade long terrorist violence in Punjab left over 25,000 people dead. There was massive respression from both the security forces and the militants. Though the peace has finally returned to Punjab, there is no closure in the lives of the people who died at the hands of the police and the Congress goons. Not a single prominent Congress leader has been convicted for the 1984 violence. Even the Akali Dal that promised to bring the guilty police officials to book and order a judicial enquiry into circumstances that led to the beginning of Sikh separatism has backed off from its promises. Unlike Canada and South Africa where Truth and Reconciliation Commissions have brought some closure into the lives of the Aboriginals and Blacks respectively, the people of Punjab continu to wait for an honest attempt to assuage their wounds. As a result debate over separate Sikh homeland or “persecution” refuse to die. In places like Canada or London, the Sikh separatists have succeeded in indoctrinating a new generation of radical youth, whose point of reference remains the bloody events of 1984. The assault on Brar should be seen in a broader context of this new form of militancy outside India. By failing to deliver justice, the Indian establishment has actually strengthened the hands of such sectarian forces. If nothing else is possible, at least a Truth and Reconciliation Commission should be established to bring a dignified closure in the lives of the victims of terrorist violence and state repression. This can at least shame those Indian politicians who played with the lives of innocent people.
source: http://www.vancouverdesi.com/news/do-you-support-truth-and-reconciliation-commission-for-punjab/