The Tribune – SGPC: Will contest suit for damages during Operation Bluestar

Amritsar, March 21. The SGPC today said that it would contest “till the end” the case regarding Rs 1,000 crore compensation from the Centre for damage to the Golden Temple during Operation Bluestar in 1984.

SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar said they would withdraw the affidavit submitted in the Delhi HC and continue to fight the case. He would hold a meeting with Sikh intellectuals and legal luminaries to deliberate on the next course of action. The SGPC had recently filed an affidavit before the Delhi High Court,stating that the SGPC executive committee had decided to withdraw the suit, a decision apparently reached because of the huge amount going towards court fee.

The SGPC contended that if the court fee of Rs 10 crore was paid on the amount claimed, “it will be a sheer wastage of the hard-earned money donated by devotees if the case is decided against it.” (TNS)

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130322/punjab.htm#15

The Tribune – Operation Bluestar was a wrong decision: VK Singh; Claims that the then Chief of the Army Staff had opposed it

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, February 21. Former Army Chief General V K Singh today said that Operation Bluestar was a wrong political decision and that the then Chief of the Army Staff had declined to attack the holy shrine.

The retired General, who has joined hands with social activist Anna Hazare, was in the city to garner support for the “Jantantra Morcha”, a camapaign against corrupt practices, to be launched on March 31.

He paid obeisance at the Golden Temple. Asked if Operation Bluestar was a hasty decision, he said: “I was a Major at that time, but I am cent per cent correct in saying that the Army’s point of view could never be against its own people and the then leadership should have opted for another alternative to get things done.”

He said the then Army Chief had said ‘no’ to the operation ‘but when it was ordered, he had no choice but to obey.”

He emphasised that the operation was solely a political decision.

On the alleged kickback in the AgustaWestland deal, he maintained: “The Services’ role has always been minuscule and there could be negligible corruption at that level.” He said for arms procurement, the ‘lowest bidder requirement’ was not right as the “lowest may not be the best.”

On India-Pakistan relations, he said: “ India should review its approach. Jammu and Kashmir is witnessing a proxy war. It is not an indigenous movement, but is financed and abetted by inimical forces across the border.”

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130222/punjab.htm#1

523. The Man in Blue – Lieutenant General (retired) Kuldip Singh Brar

As I am now in the Amsterdam Guru Nanak Gurdwara and am not rushing from one meeting to the other, I have time to write a Man in Blue Column about the ‘assault’ on Lieutenant General (retired) Kuldip Singh Brar.

In writing this I have put myself in the position of one of the accused and assumed that this person was both guilty and intelligent.

“I stand here accused of assaulting lieutenant general (retired) Kuldip Singh Brar and I admit that I am guilty and should undergo the appropriate punishment.

This statement explains why I assaulted an old man on holiday in the UK. It is not a plea for clemency, which would be unworthy for a Sikh.

In June 1984 the general was ordered by the Indira Gandhi government to attack the Harmandr Sahib complex. I do not know the specifics of his order but the explanation given at the time was that there were about 50 terrorists in the complex. Whether his orders were to eliminate these terrorists, or whether he had to try and arrest them and bring them to justice I do not know.

The known fact is that the Harmandr Sahib complex was attacked on the day when many Sikhs went there from the early morning to commemorate the martyrdom of Guru Arjan on the 30th of May 1606. The result was that at least 1000 people were killed and not just the 50 alleged terrorists.

I am willing to concede that there were not 50 but maybe up to 100 alleged terrorists in the Harmandr Sahib complex. I also understand that during an operation on this scale some civilians are bound to find themselves in the line of fire, and become what are sometimes called collateral victims.

But the general and his men killed at least one thousand people during the operation, and he was never held responsible for killing 900 innocent visitors to Harmandr Sahib on the 6th of June 1984.

The general said that he acted on orders, but if you carry out criminal orders you are a criminal yourself, as the post World War II Nurnberg trials made clear.

The general is guilty of ‘war crimes’, but he never appeared in court. The Indira Gandhi government ordered the general to commit ‘war crimes’ and did not appear in court either.

Those that were responsible for the mass killings of Sikhs at the end of October and beginning of November 1984 are still walking free, and some of these are even part of the present Indian government, which has a Sikh prime minister.

But I will be tried and receive my due punishment, as I should.“

A statement like this would make headlines. But will these assaulters of the retired lieutenant general be mice or men ? Will they be ruled by anger or by wisdom ?

BBC News – Indian general who led Golden Temple raid stabbed in London

Monday, 1 October 2012. The Indian general who led a 1984 raid on Sikh militants in Amritsar’s Golden Temple has been stabbed in London.

Lt-General Kuldeep Singh Brar sustained serious but not life-threatening injuries when four men attacked him.

The 78-year-old is thought to still be a target for extremist Sikhs, but there has been no suggestion yet as to the identity of his attackers.

Lt General Brar’s Operation Bluestar left around 1,000 people dead.

The army raided the Golden Temple in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar in June 1984 to flush out armed Sikh militants who were fighting for an independent homeland of Khalistan.

Reports on the exact number of people killed vary but it is thought about 1,000 people were killed in the ensuing struggle, including women and children on pilgrimage and soldiers.

Lt General Kuldeep Singh Brar was one of the key architects of the operation.

He was attacked on Old Quebec Street in the Oxford Circus area of London on Sunday night by unknown assailants, with no suggestion so far that his attackers were Sikhs.

After spending the night in hospital he was released on Monday.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19790926

The Tribune – Justice for displaced shopkeepers after 28 years

Perneet Singh, Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 28. Twenty-eight years after Operation Bluestar spelt doom for their flourishing trade and left deep scars on their lives, businessmen having shops around the Golden Temple have finally heaved a sigh of relief as the Punjab and Haryana High Court recently ordered allotment of an alternative place for their rehabilitation. However, not all of them were lucky enough to see the day. Of the 133 shopkeepers who used to run their businesses from rented shops in three markets, over 40 have died.

While a few of them died after contracting different diseases during adverse circumstances prevailing after the tragedy, some others committed suicide in view of their deteriorating financial state. For instance, Rajinder Singh, who owned two shops of artificial jewellery in Shaheed Market, committed suicide by jumping into the ‘sarovar’ at the Golden Temple in 1993. His wife Manjeet Kaur then took to stitching to bring up her daughter and two sons – Surinder Singh and Jaswinder Singh who now frame photographs to earn a livelihood.

Traders Gurjit Singh Bhola and Subhash Kapoor said the HC had ordered allotment of two plots, one measuring 3.75 acres and the other of 2 acres, near Jain Temple on the GT Road. The government will also extend them aid in constructing the shops, each of which will measure around 27 square yards.

Asked whether all these traders were in a position to build their shops on the land allotted to them, they said half of them will not have much problem in constructing shops while the rest would have to arrange funds through bank loans and other means.A section of these traders are living in penury and barely manage to earn two square meals a day.

Physically challenged septuagenarian Daljeet Singh, who ran a wholesale shop of ‘kara’/’kangha’ before the Army operation in 1984, now moves on a tricycle in the narrow lanes of the walled city selling undergarments to eke out a livelihood.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120529/punjab.htm#4