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In a first, SGPC to observe anniversary of 1955 police entry in Golden Temple
The SGPC will also display relics related to the attack, including four tear-gas bombs that the police had used on July 4, 1955
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Wednesday announced that it will mark the first entry of police force inside the Golden Temple, on July 4, 1955, since the Mughal rule ended in 1857, with an Akhand Paath.
This is the first time since the incident that the gurdwara management body has decided to observe its anniversary. On July 4, 1955, police had entered the shrine to deal with the supporters of the Punjabi Suba Morcha, injuring a number of Sikhs.
“It was the first raid on the shrine since the Mughals. We are organising a Sri Akhand Paath Sahib (non-stop recitation of the Guru Granth Sahib) at the Manji Sahib Diwan Hall on July 2 to recount its history. The Bhog will be on July 4,” SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur told a press conference. The SGPC will also display relics of the entry, including four tear-gas bombs that the police had used.
Kaur added, “During the intervening night of July 3 and 4, about 3am, the then Amritsar Range DIG Ashwani Kumar, under instruction from the then chief minister Bhim Sen Sachar, entered the shrine to crush the movement. Bullets hit the Golden Temple and the Akal Takht.”
She alleged that the Congress has always been unjust with the Sikhs, who sacrificed the most for the freedom of the country. “The central Sikh shrine, Sachkhand Sri Harmandar Sahib, was attacked just seven years after independence. The intention of the Congress, which committed the genocide of Sikhs in 1984, were anti-Sikh from the very beginning,” she claimed.
In 2020, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) chief Gurpatwant Singh Pannu had raised the issue of marking the anniversary. He had written a letter to Akal Takh acting jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh to seek encouragement before opening a voter registration process in the state for a referendum on Punjab’s independence on July 4. His request, however, was never considered. Pannu was designated as a terrorist after he launched a ‘Voter Registration’ bid via a number of websites in July 2020.
