Dal Khalsa calls for Amritsar bandh on June 6

Radical Sikh group Dal Khalsa has given a call for Amritsar bandh on June 6 to protest against the “destruction of the Akal Takht” during Operation Bluestar, which was launched in June 1984 to flush out armed militants from inside the Golden Temple complex under the command of the then Damdami Taksal head Jarnail Singh Bhinderanwale.

This Amritsar bandh decision came at a meeting of the Dal Khalsa held here on Sunday. Announcing the decision, party’s spokesperson Kanwarpal Singh said the bandh was also being called to merit the attention of the government and the public to the valuable hand-written manuscripts and artefacts that went missing from the Sikh Reference Library of the Golden Temple during the army action of 1984.

On June 5, the Dal Khalsa along with activists of its youth wing the Sikh Youth of Punjab (SYP) will hold a “remembrance march” in Amritsar in memory of those who were killed in the army operation.

Taking a jibe at the statement of Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal in which he assured people to urge the Centre to return the valuable manuscripts and artefacts taken from the Sikh Reference Library, the Dal Khalsa leader asked the chief minister not to mislead the Sikhs by giving such statements.

“Your (CM) party was a part of the NDA government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee and you did nothing to bring these priceless items back to the Golden Temple. Now again you have stepped up your rhetoric on the subject — stop misleading the Sikhs,” Kanwarpal added.

He said the status of Badal was just of a facilitator for the BJP-RSS and he possibly could not secure justice for the Sikhs from the Narendra Modi government.