JALANDHAR: Commemorating the 25th anniversary of the army assault code named “operation Blue Star” against Darbar Sahib in June 1984, the young generation of the community under the banner of ‘Sikh Youth of Punjab’ organized a Panthic Conference to discuss, define and understand what they call “the root cause of the attack and its impact on the minds of today’s youth”. 

The conference was chaired by renowned historian Dr Gurdharshan Singh Dhillon, an author of the SGPC sponsored White Paper on June 1984 events. 

The president of the SYP Ranbir Singh held up the sacrifices of Sikh martyrs and their “unimaginable hardships” as a lesson for youth of the modern times. “Friends and companions, what we cannot forget- what we must not forget- is that 25 years ago this day it was a time when bravery and selflessness of a few was able to change the course of an entire community”, he said.  

“At an hour of maximum danger, amid the bleakest of circumstances, men who thought themselves ordinary found it within themselves to do the extraordinary”.  

Joined by organization’s vice-president and general secretary Gurpreet Singh and Parbjot Singh, he honoured the sons of the valiant dead of 1984 attack namely Bhai Kirpal Singh and Bhai Balkar Singh. Both Bhupinder Singh and Ranjit Singh in their speeches expressed ‘pride and honour’ in the role and sacrifices of their fathers.  

“I was not born when the attack took place in the eighties,” said Saravkar Singh, who is district president of Ludhiana unit of the SYP. “I’ve heard of “Operation Blue Star” from our fathers and relatives and hail the contribution of those unsung heroes who laid their lives for cause of religion and freedom, 

 “I wonder how humans could be so cruel and mindless,” said Noblejeet Singh and added governments must respect all their people and their minorities.

 “Our participation in the Panthic activities is not instantaneous but instinctive,” said Gurpreet Singh Mann, organization’s vice-president.

SYP general secretary Prabhjot Singh who was 5 years old at the time of the attack says most of the teenagers are anguished over the way the government of India desecrated their religious places. “The holocaust of June 1984 and Nov Delhi pogrom made us to realize that our elder generation had committed a mistake by alienating itself with India,” said Prabhjot. “What’ve I to do with a country in which I’ve lost a complete sense of belonging to?” he said.

Setting the tone for the conference Dal Khalsa leader Kanwar Pal Singh said there are some of the questions that are repeatedly being put to Sikhs at large. Media as also the non-Sikhs in general often ask that now, since a Sikh has become Prime Minister of the country, should not the Sikhs be happy, and pardon the Congress for what it did with them 25 years ago? 

Responding to such queries he bluntly reminded the audience that it was hard to overcome decades of mistrust and distrust. The Congress government in power at that time was ruthless in suppressing the rights of Sikhs and others.  

Resolution adopted during the convention states “the tremors of 1984 continue to rock the resilient Sikhs, a community whose creation itself was not without birth pangs. In the modern times, the catastrophic events of Operation Bluestar continue to haunt the community. There are lessons for the younger generation to learn from that catastrophe. The religio-political dynamics of the Sikh religion must be understood in proper perspective. That would help in understanding the past, consolidating the roots, shaping the future and preserving the exclusive Sikh identity”.