Himanta Sarma invokes Operation Bluestar to mock Rahul Gandhi for Golden Temple visit

On Monday, the former Congress chief participated in ‘sewa’ (voluntary service) at the Golden Temple.

Published on: Oct 2, 2023, 18:36:16 IST

By HT News Desk, New Delhi

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Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, a regular Rahul Gandhi baiter, on Monday again targeted the former Congress chief, this time over the latter's Golden Temple visit, during which the Wayanad MP participated in ‘sewa’ (voluntary service) by washing utensils.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi arriving to pay obeisance at Golden Temple in Amritsar on Monday. (Sameer Sehgal/HT)

Also Read | 1984 anti-Sikh riots: Sajjan Kumar acquitted in Sultanpuri murder case

Reminding Gandhi that his grandmother, former prime minister Indira Gandhi, ordered a military operation at the Golden Temple, Sarma mocked the Congress leader's ‘Mohabbat Ki Dukaan’ (shop of love) catchphrase.

“Grandmother sprayed bullets and grand child is doing sewa. This is called ‘Mohabbat Ki Dukaan’,” the Assam CM, an ex-Congressman, wrote on X (formerly Twitter)

Operation Bluestar

In early June 1984, the Indian Army, on orders of then PM Indira Gandhi, stormed the Golden Temple in a bid to remove militant Sikh preacher Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his ‘army’ of fellow Khalistan (a proposed independent homeland for Sikhs) supporters, from the shrine. On October 31, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in retaliation for the army raid; her killing sparked riots against the community across the country, mainly in and around Delhi.

Over the years, several Congress leaders, primarily Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar, have been accused of having incited mobs to attack Sikh community members in Delhi, charges they have repeatedly denied. Even Rajiv Gandhi – Indira's son (and Rahul's father) who succeeded her as prime minister – made a speech in which, many people believe, he justified the anti-Sikh violence.

Rajiv himself was assassinated in May 1991 by LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) terrorists for sending Indian troops to Sri Lanka to battle the LTTE in the island nation's civil war.

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