AMRITSAR:  Sikh radicals here Wednesday  proclaimed alliances with Islamists and other minorities to wage a joint struggle against the “state oppression and terrorism”. The separatist groups had converged in Amritsar to mark the 24th anniversary of Operation Bluestar.

At a conclave convened by Dal Khalsa, a radical group, the leaders of various minority and ethnic communities portrayed the slain militant Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale as the greatest savior of Sikh  community.

The conclave on “Sacrilige of Places of Worship of Minorities by the State” got into a charged mode as the leader of the breakaway faction of the Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Shah Geelani talked about formulating a common platform to launch joint struggle against the state over phone.

However he was put under house arrest in Srinagar, he managed to outwit the intelligence and phoned in to address the conclave. His address over the phone was amplified through the public address system.

Asserting his hawkish stance on the Kashmir issue, Geelani said that any association of the minorities across the nation would provide strength to their movement against the “state oppression and terrorism”.

Amidst the charged atmosphere, another fiery speaker, Professor Syed Abdul Rehman Geelani, also focused his speech on Kashmir. Professor Geelani, who was acquitted in the Parliament attack case, said that the government had been attempting to legitimize sub nationality and ignoring the basic issue of “self determination” raised by the people of Kashmir.

Talking about the Golden Temple, he said that the armed forces attacked the highest temporal seat of the Sikh religion and hurt the sentiments of the Sikhs.

The government did not take any measures to curb attack on the community after the anti-Sikh riots erupted in the country in 1984. “The government took 20-years to tender apology on the floor of the Parliament after a Sikh prime minister took over the country’s reigns,” Professor Geelani said. He accused the government of directly facilitating attacks on the minorities.

A veteran SGPC member Manjeet Singh Calcutta said that the Sikh community would not forget the attack on the Akal Takht as it had been engraved in the Sikh psyche.

Calcutta said that Akali Dal had always demanded to treat Sikhs as a distinct identity. But the presentleadership of the Akali Dal had deviated from the  issue for selfish motives. “India would break into pieces since the state does not exhibit tolerance for communities in minority,” he said.

Releasing the status paper and literature on the conference, Kanwarpal Singh, general secretary of Dal Khalsa said that the minorities in India were in precarious state. The minorities were forced to invent new strategy to protect existence and identity. The conclave also witnessed literature bearing the pictures of the Akal Takht damaged in the Army attack and Babri mosque being pulled down. The representatives of the Christian community also attended the conclave.