Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Amritsar, Ahead of raising a gallery to those who were killed during Operation Bluestar in the Golden Temple complex, an akhand path began today at Gurdwara Yaadgar Shahidan. The gallery is proposed to be set up in the basement of the memorial, near Akal Takht. The Damdami Taksal (once headed by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale) will prepare a blueprint and gather the requisite data. ‘Kar sewa’ will begin on July 6 at 9.30 am. The SGPC has given its nod to set up portraits of those killed between June 1 and 6 in 1984. Even after 33 years, there is no authentic record of the number of Sikh militants or pilgrims killed during the operation. SGPC chief Kirpal Singh Badungar said a joint panel of the Taksal and the SGPC would soon approach the Ministries of Home and Defence to ascertain the antecedents of the victims. The SGPC’s executive committee had announced that photos of Bhindranwale, Shabeg Singh, Thara Singh and others would be set up in the gallery. There is a list of 741 victims on the wall of the Central Sikh Museum near Akal Takht. A survey conducted by Dal Khalsa identified 220 victims, mostly from the Taksal, the Babbar Khalsa International and the Akhand Kirtani Jatha. Party spokesperson Kanwarpal Singh Bittu said a directory, ‘Martyrs of June 1984 holocaust’, was compiled by party secretary Sarbjit Singh in 2006. “It was updated in 2007 and 2012. It has been handed over to Badungar,” he said. Taksal chief Harnam Singh Khalsa said, “A series of akhand paths will be held uninterrupted for over two years.” Names of Hindu victims find mention too Dal Khalsa’s directory mentions victims who originally belonged to Hindu families. Bhai Mohar Singh was a Brahmin Pandit by birth who adopted Sikhism after joining the Damdami Taksal. During Operation Bluestar, his wife Pritam Kaur and two daughters were also killed. Bhai Hardev Singh, alias Bholli Pandit, son of Pandit Jaswant Rai from Khadoor Sahib, was also affiliated with the Taksal.
