Refrain from using word Operation Bluestar: Akal Takht chief

Amritsar, June 6 (IANS) The officiating Jathedar (chief) of Akal Takht, Giani Harpreet Singh, on Sunday asked to refrain from using the word Operation Bluestar as it hurts the Sikh masses.

He said the incident of 1984 should always be remembered as 'Ghallughara', meaning a wipeout of the Sikh community.

In a message to mark the 37th anniversary of Operation Bluestar here that was marred by heated arguments between Sikh activists and police as they forced their entry into the Golden Temple, the chief of Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikh religion, said the day should be remembered as "Chaurasi (1984) Da Ghallughara".

"We should avoid words like 'Operation Bluestar' or 'Saka Neelataara' as they hurt the sentiments," he said.

Operation Bluestar was carried out by the Indian Army at the Darbar Sahib complex between June 1 and 8, 1984.

Every year, prayers are held at the Akal Takht by radical Sikh organisation Dal Khalsa to mark the anniversary of the Army operation carried out to flush out heavily-armed terrorists from inside the complex.

Describing the earlier massacres of Sikhs in 1746 and 1762 'chhota ghallughara' and 'vadda ghallughara' in which 7,000 and 35,000 Sikhs were killed respectively, the Akal Takht chief said 1984 Army attack was nothing short like the previous massacres.

"Like the earlier two 'ghallugharas', the third one occurred in 1984 when the Indian Army attacked the Golden Temple the way China and Pakistan attacked India in 1962 and 1965," he added.

In a parallel function organised to mark the occasion by Giani Dhian Singh Mand, the interim jathedar of the Akal Takht appointed by radical Sikh groups, SAD (Amritsar) chief Simranjit Singh Mann and the prime accused of the Red Fort violence, Deep Sidhu, were present.