PATIALA: Sikhs in Pakistan have downplayed the commemoration of Operation Blue star anniversary observed in world wide on June 6.

Reports reaching from across the border said that only nine Sikhs attended the services at Gurdwara Dera Sahib(Pakistan) yesterday to commemorate those killed by the Indian army at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on June 6, 1984.

"A 12,000-strong Sikh community lives across the country, but only nine participated in the services," said a former member of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC), requesting not to be named. Talking to this reporter over phone he said that "Sikhs show a lack of interest in any function which may spoil efforts of bilateral relation between India and Pakistan," he said, claiming that Sikhs had been encouraged to participate in the services.

The Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) had made arrangements to provide free accommodation and food to the Sikhs, expected to visit Gurdwara Dera Sahib in large numbers, he said. 

Any condemnation letter against the Indian attack on the Golden Temple by PSGPC was absent and PSGPC caretaker president Sardar Bishon Singh was also absent from the event.

ETPB had written a letter to the head Granthi of Nankana Sahib to come to Gurdwara Dera Sahib on June 6 and recite Guru Granth Sahib.