<div><font color="Navy">Sunday, 10 June 2012 22:33 Amitabh shukla - Senior Editor, The Pioneer, Chandigarh
Building a memorial for those who died in Operation Bluestar would not serve any purpose
It seems there is a conspiracy of silence in Punjab. It was this silence by those at the helm which led to a secessionist movement in the State not long ago. The nation bore the tragic consequences with thousands perishing in the violence which engulfed the State for a decade and a half.
Now again, by acts of omission and commission and glossing over a situation which has the potential of creating trouble, the foundation stone laying ceremony to build a memorial for those killed in Operation Bluestar was allowed in Amritsar. The symbolic move, which has the support of the Sikh clergy, could snowball into an issue which could trigger trouble in the State, if not immediately, then in near future.
This is not a kind of symbolism which the State and the country can afford at this juncture when peace is still fragile and fringe elements active and looking for an opportunity to foment trouble.
Killing of a Chief Minister and over a dozen innocent people along with him was also sought to be given legitimacy at the same time. Balwant Singh Rajoana, the assassin of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh who is awaiting an imminent death sentence in Patiala Jail, was given the title of
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Building a memorial for those who died in Operation Bluestar would not serve any purpose
It seems there is a conspiracy of silence in Punjab. It was this silence by those at the helm which led to a secessionist movement in the State not long ago. The nation bore the tragic consequences with thousands perishing in the violence which engulfed the State for a decade and a half.
Now again, by acts of omission and commission and glossing over a situation which has the potential of creating trouble, the foundation stone laying ceremony to build a memorial for those killed in Operation Bluestar was allowed in Amritsar. The symbolic move, which has the support of the Sikh clergy, could snowball into an issue which could trigger trouble in the State, if not immediately, then in near future.
This is not a kind of symbolism which the State and the country can afford at this juncture when peace is still fragile and fringe elements active and looking for an opportunity to foment trouble.
Killing of a Chief Minister and over a dozen innocent people along with him was also sought to be given legitimacy at the same time. Balwant Singh Rajoana, the assassin of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh who is awaiting an imminent death sentence in Patiala Jail, was given the title of
More...