Amritsar, June 06: Heavy security arrangements are in
place across Punjab ahead of the 24th anniversary of Operation
Blue Star today with apprehensions that Sikh hardliners
might try to stoke a backlash against the Dera Sacha Sauda.
The chain of `Akhand Paths` (recitations from religious
texts) by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee was begun at
Akal Takht in the golden temple complex here yesterday and
would culminate today morning.
The district administration had made elaborate security
arrangements and security forces across the state had been
kept on alert to prevent radical organisatons from using the
occasion to flare up Sikh sentiments against the Sirsa-based
sect, officials said yesterday.
The hardliners have already given an ultimatum for the
arrest of Dera chief Baba Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh by June 18
after which they would stage a sit-in in front of Punjab Raj
Bhawan in Chandigarh on June 19.
`Blue Star` was the code name of the operation launched by
the Army from June 4- 6, 1984 on the orders of then Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi to flush out militants hiding inside
the complex.
Most of the militants, led by Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale,
head of the Damdami Taksal and now defunct Khalistan Commando
Force, were killed in the three-day operation, which evoked a
public outcry from the Sikh community.
Bureau Report
