Jaitley endorses state BJP stand on Bluestar memorial

With the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) as its poll partner, the BJP is adopting a cautious path on all sensitive Sikh religious issues during its poll campaign.

With the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) as its poll partner, the BJP is adopting a cautious path on all sensitive Sikh religious issues during its poll campaign. Another such instance came when the BJP's Amritsar candidate and senior leader Arun Jaitley was asked about his stand on the Operation Bluestar Memorial constructed in April last year in the Golden Temple complex by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) which is controlled by the SAD.

"Our stand is absolutely clear in the BJP. So I don't have to repeat it. What the stand of our state unit was, that is our stand," Jaitley stressed, evading a direct reply. The state BJP unit had opposed the construction of the Bluestar Memorial at the Golden Temple complex - built in memory of those killed in army action of 1984 to clear the complex of militants. The state BJP had even said that the memorial was not in the interest of communal harmony and peace.

Jaitley, however, credited the SAD-BJP coalition for peace and stability in Punjab. When the media asked Punjab BJP chief Kamal Sharma about the party's stand, he said, "I think you all have a strong memory. Issues are being made out of non-issues."

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