Badal defends Operation Bluestar Memorial

Says Cong objections could jeopardise peace in state

Chandigarh, June 22
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has made it clear that he will maintain law and order at all costs, even if his party is accused of sowing seeds of discord.

In a statement in the House yesterday, Badal said the demand to raise the Operation Bluestar Memorial had been a long-pending one. His government had only given tacit approval to something which the Sikh community and the SGPC had finalised between themselves.

The fact that the CM placed a letter from the SGPC president on the floor of the House, stating what kind of memorial would be built in the Golden Temple complex, indicates he could have been instrumental in giving the final shape to the Bluestar Memorial.

The middle path followed by the CM (the memorial will come up in the form of a gurdwara and not a museum or gallery) has been grudgingly accepted by the BJP which understands the SAD’s compulsions.

The memorial controversy might die down, but on the issue of honouring Beant Singh’s assassin, Balwant Singh Rajoana, the SAD will have to do a tightrope walking. The BJP has made its clear that it will not recognise a murderer as a martyr. The Congress too is targeting the government on the issue although some Sikh legislators in the Congress do not want the party to make it a political issue.

Badal has in a deft political move capitalised on this sentiment. In his statement to the House yesterday, he said he was “deeply pained” by the dangerous controversy created by the Congress over a religious monument and accused the party of trying to disturb the hard-won peace and communal harmony in the state.

The statement said “most painfully and shockingly, the Congress government at the Centre in 1984 ordered and carried out a brutal Army assault on this house of God.” Badal said it was felt that this “saka” needed to be commemorated through a symbol to carry forward the Gurus’ message of peace and harmony. He said it was after deliberations with eminent scholars that it was decided that the memorial should come up in the form of a gurdwara.

Badal said: “The period of SAD-BJP governments in Punjab has been one of peace and harmony. I am proud to say that even today, when the rest of the country is afflicted with violence and anarchy, Punjab remains the most peaceful state and an oasis of human brotherhood.”

The Chief Minister said he considered restoration of peace and communal harmony in Punjab as his greatest achievement.

“Its preservation in future also is my most cherished goal and mission. Peace and harmony in Punjab is a matter of sacred faith for me and I am committed to defend it with my life.

“Even if I have to shed the last drop of my blood for peace and communal harmony in Punjab, I will consider that to be a part of my religious duty and will be proud of it. This is my sacred commitment to the people of Punjab”, the Chief Minister added.

Meanwhile, BJP vice-president Shanta Kumar, who is incharge of Punjab affairs, told mediapersons in Jalandhar on Friday that his party was opposed to a memorial at the Golden Temple.