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Operation Blue Star Pritpal Singh Bindra, 1994 The Sanctity and the Secularity of the Harimandir Sahib, the present Golden Temple Amritsar, had already been established by Guru Arjan Dev. The temporal protection of the Sikh piety was preordained, and Guru Hargobind was destined for that task. In parallel to the Symbol of Spirituality, but lower in rank, Guru Hargobind created the Symbol of Temporal Power for the protection of the former. The Akal Takht, the Timeless Throne, known as Akal Bunga at the time, became a sole temporal source of courage and inspiration. Ahmad Shah Abdali, agonized by a handful of Sikhs, was the first to perceive that the Akal Takht was Sikhs' guiding light. Consequently he demolished it three times. During the Mughal period Mir Manu and Massa Rangar became the victim of same notion and desecrated the place. The Sikhs started to face political, social, cultural, religious, and economic deceit right from the day India became independent in 1947. The dissensions generated protestations among the Sikhs which inflamed Prime Minster, Indra Gandhi's feelings, and she decided to hit the hub of the Sikh courage and inspiration. She `wanted to teach them (the Sikhs) a lesson'. But, unfortunately, she never comprehended the spiritual repercussions, and the unyielding stimulus the Takht inculcated in the Sikh psyche. Every time in the history the place was defiled it came up with much more vigour. In the second place, the culprits, Abadalis, Rangars, and Massas were eliminated from the earth ignobly (what happened to Mrs. Gandhi's family? it goes without saying). In the first week of June 1984, Indian Forces, acting upon the direct orders of Mrs. Gandhi, tried to achieve the impossible, by radiating the Blue Star, to destroy the Akal Takht and annihilate thousands of innocent pilgrims gathered there to commemorate Guru Arjan Dev's Martyrdom Day. How far the Government had succeeded? The cry for social, economic, political, religious and cultural justices has turned into a demand for a separate "place of their own", the Khalistan. Every year the First Week of June instils more defiance attitude. The Sikhs, irrespective of their political affiliations, observe the day with great ferocity. And this year, the tenth anniversary commemorations have been eminent in almost all the cities of the world with scant or enormous Sikh population. In Toronto the World Sikh Organization internationalised the event with their three partite programme on June 4 and 5, and all that with great vigour and vitality. The "International Sikh Convention" was held from 9.00am to 5.00pm on June 4, 1994, at the Delia Banquet Hall. It gave insight into the study of the situation by the `academics' and `intellectuals'. Along with the presence of distinguished North American intelligentsia, the appearance of Mr. Rupinder Singh Sodhi, Barister, Supreme Court of India and Prof. Balkar Singh, Ph.D., Head Sri Guru Granth Sahib Studies, Punjabi University, Patiala, was quite conspicuous. Both were specially flown from India for participation in various ceremonies. The Inter Community Banquet held at the same venue in the evening was an exercise to discuss "Decade of Sikh Straggle for Khalistan." No doubt both the sequels were quite effective. But the apex point was the open conference held in the stadium at Dixie Road Sikh Temple on Sunday the June 5 from 11.00am to 5.00pm. This was the most outstanding and successful feature, and the organisers deserve full credit for their efforts. At least twenty thousand congregants of all ages gathered round the place to pay their homage to the martyrs of June 1984 holocaust caused by the misdeeds of the Government of India. In welcoming the guests at the Convention Mr. Ram Raghbir Singh Chahal of World Sikh Organisation briefly provided information on the events of the past ten years, and elucidated how it had become essential for the Sikhs to toil for their own home-land. The recent human right violations and religious persecutions, indulged in by the Government of India, were making the desire for freedom more prominent. The Sikhs needed their own place to live with dignity and honour. And through these conferences W.S.O. was venturing to achieve that goal. The contents of the greetings received from Prof. Manjit Singh, Head of the Akal Takht, Amritsar were very touching. The month of June, according to the Head Priest, was a black spot in the Sikh history; during this month Guru Arjan Dev, Bhai Mani Singh and Banda Singh Bahadur were martyred. Koh-i-noor Diamond was snatched away from the Sikh Raj, some of the Muslim Rulers' atrocities on the Akal Takht were committed and, most of all, in the contemporary history, the Operation Blue Star was conducted. He prayed for the Sikh unity and hoped for an absolute success by the year 1999, the three hundredth anniversary of the creation of Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh. Ann Lothian of W.S.O. presented the greetings received from Prime Minster, Hon'ble Jean Chritien; he delved on the Multicultural aspect of Canadian Society and wished the conference a success. Prof. Balkar Singh academically presented the concept of `Guru' in Sikhism; Guru in History, Guru in revelation, and Guru in Khalsa Panth. The Spirituality and Sociability were interwoven and harmonised. In this concept the Akal Takht was the most significant factor, he stressed. He explored the eminence of the place and the superiority of its Head Priest. He explained the philosophy behind the declaration of a person as Tankhaya (guilty), and the imposition of the Tankhah (punishment). He defined that the Jathedar of Akal Takht did not punish the guilty but the guilty's own consciousness coaxed him to bow before spirituality of the place and ask for the Tankhah to obtain forgiveness. The Akal Takht was law in itself but the Indra Gandhi took it as the infringement of the `Law and Order', and with this pretext she indulged in the destruction of the place. Prof. Singh's discourse ensued a very lively discussion; the self-determination gave the people a right to decide upon their own decorum, for the management of Sikh Temples the Sikhs should seek guidance from Akal Takht but, so far as physical management was concerned, local congregations should decide their own procedure. At this point, Harbhajan Singh Pandori implored the causes of discontentment; why some Sikhs ignored the Supremacy of Akal Takht? He introduced a resolution to call for an unquestionable adherence to the authority of the Akal Takht, and for the acceptance of the edicts issued by the Jathedar. It was passed unanimously (although Mr. Manohar Singh Bal pointed out that the Supremacy of the Takht was already unquestionably accepted, there was no need of such a resolution. But, considering the recent endeavours of a few disgruntled Sikh politicians in Delhi, such an assertion was direly needed). Ajit Jain of India Abroad Weekly raised the question what happened if the `Law of the Land' was in variance with the edicts. The chair contended, citing a few examples, that, if the Law was not applied arbitrarily, it never conflicted. The Session for "Independence Struggles by Various Groups" was represented by Speakers from Palestine House, Ambedkar Centre, Muslim Friends Association, and by Bosnian Muslims Spiritual Leader, Croatian Muslims' Spokesperson and Harbhajan Singh Pandori. All of them narrated the injustices meted out to their minorities. The stress was laid upon the fact that the ultimate achievement came through negotiations and with the convergence of public opinion. To mould public opinion, and to earn the sympathy of the governing bodies of the other countries, the image creation with the help of the media was essential. The leaders of the W.S.O. explained their stand at length. They emphasised the need to mould the public opinion in favour of the Sikh demands. The coverage by the media was assessed to be the most important, `spend as much as possible' but `make sure our part of story is there'. The Sikh cause had received enormous support from U.S. legislators. The question was raised why Canada was lagging behind? The point was clarified that in U.S. the legislators were very independent but in Canada M.P.s were bound by party loyalties. The progress made by World Sikh Organization was questioned too; it was alleged to have a slow pace. The audience was reminded of the time taken by the Jews, and other nations in realising their goals in the contemporary history. Mr. Gian Singh Sandhu, the policy stalwart of W.S.O. threw considerable light on the past ten year's work of the Organisation. He illuminated how in 1987 Canadian Ministers were advised to refrain from having contacts with Sikh Organisations; they all were considered terrorists. W.S.O.'s persistent efforts had turned the tide; greetings from the Prime Minster were there to prove the point. Furthermore, W. S. O. Banquet to be held at House of Commons in Ottawa next week would itself be a mile stone in the history of W.S.O.; as many as forty M.P.s were scheduled to participate. The religiosity of the Turban was discussed in the session scheduled for "Sikh Turban and Royal Canadian Legion". Moral and religious relevance, discussed in the Convention, has already had extensive coverage in the press currently. Mr. Andrew Schroeder, Barrister and Solicitor, WSO Legal Council, dealt with the legal prospective very thoroughly, and expressed his optimism. Mr. Rupinder Singh Sodhi was the keynote speaker during all the three parts. Speaking on the subject of `Sikh Rights and the Constitution of India' in the Convention he presented an insight into the various clauses of the Constitution pertaining to the `rights' in general. There were 395 clauses in the constitution, he informed, and it had been amended 74 time since its promulgation. Theoretically it was most democratic, and free of prejudices and unequal opportunities. One stipulation accepted the unhindered wearing of the Kirpan by the Sikhs. No doubt, he admitted, there had been abuses. Some cases were brought to the notice of the Supreme Court of India, and it had dealt with many violations sternly. The law was violative some times but certainly not dead, he emphasised. During the discussion, numerous instances were quoted where Governmental agencies were instrumental in committing atrocities but no legal remedial actions were taken. There were too many exceptions but we could not condemn the whole system, Mr. Sodhi maintained. In the evening, at the Annual Dinner, Mr.Sodhi was very flamboyant in detailing the atrocities committed by the Government during the operation Blue Star and thereafter. He narrated stories detailing the horrendous activities of the Police. He cited a number of cases where, in the pretext of law enforcement, little children, innocent girls, and guileless women were victimised. He gave details after details of such cases where he was personally involved as lawyer, most of the time without any monetary reward. At the close of his deposition Mr. Sodhi earned a thumping and long standing ovation. In the open session, in Dixie Gurdwara, he spoke, at length, on his involvement in the Defense of Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh. Kehar Singh was definitely a victim of Governmental frame up. In her testimony Bimal Khalsa, Beant Singh's wife, had deposed, "... Beant Singh and Kehar Singh used to sit down aloof, and often indulged in whisperings, kana-phoosy, ... whenever I approached them they became silent." This gave the Prosecution vent to establish conspiracy. Otherwise there was not much evidence against Kehar Singh to lead him to the gallow. There were a few other misdemeanours which the Prosecution wanted to sweep under the carpet. There was absolutely no dispute that Satwant Singh shot five bullets and Beant Singh 25. But the number of bullets recovered from Mrs. Gandhi's body was 31. No explanation has so far been put forward. Furthermore, both Satwant Singh and Beant Singh laid down their arms, and they were taken in. As soon as they sat down on the chairs, the bullets were showered upon their bodies. Beant succumbed to wounds there and then, and Satwant, riddled with 12 bullets left to suffer. The Defense wanted to call a few witnesses, such as Dhawan, Patwant and few others who were there at the time but the unscrupulous wrangles instigated by the Government Prosecution did not leave any leeway. Many tears were seen rolling down when Mr.Sodhi narrated his contact with Satwant Singh before and at the Court-hearings, particularly, during the last few days of his life. Satwant Singh never denounced his action. He always maintained that he shot at Indra Gandhi, and was proud of the fact. When he was asked, "Were you not afraid of?" "Yes, I was, but I was hurt tremendously (per satt barri bhari lagi hoi see)." He wanted to plead guilty, "I have done it... and would do it again" if the situation called for. But when charges of `conspiracy' involving others were read to him he said, `not guilty.' When Mr. Sodhi suggested him a few steps, to linger on his life, he emphatically refused to act, "Sodhi Sahib I should have pleaded guilty right at the beginning to save me torture of four years in the prison," was his reply. Mr. Sodhi asked if he had any last wish. He said, "Do tell the Hindus I had no enmity with them and the Hindu religion. Akal Takht is my religion...' and its protection was his duty. "God will protect me--tera bhana meetha lage" and he asked the Lawyer to tell the Sikhs to pray, "... whenever there is another attack on the Akal Takht I am born again to protect it." Tears were obvious in the eyes of Mr. Sodhi. In his deposition on "Constitution of India" , in spite of its failings, Mr. Sodhi was quite defensive. In the evening and in the open session on Sunday, while narrating human right absurdities and legal wrangles, he tore apart the Indian judicial system. But now, in the presence of thousands of Sikhs he ended his address with a peculiar note:
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