Don’t allow Giani Gargaj address on Bluestar anniversary: Dhuma

Damdami Taksal chief Harnam Singh Dhuma on Saturday demanded that the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) should stop Akal Takht officiating Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj from addressing Sikhs on the anniversary of Operation Bluestar.

He told reporters that Giani Gargaj “wasn’t an accepted Jathedar” of the community.

Dhuma said the Damdami Taksal — a Sikh Seminary — Nihang organisations and several Sikh bodies would lodge a strong protest if Giani Gargaj was allowed to address the community on June 6, the anniversary of Operation Bluestar. “If a conflicting situation arises on that occasion, the responsibility will lie with the president of the SGPC,” he asserted.

Dhuma said in Giani Gargaj’s place, granthis of the Golden Temple or the head granthi of the Akal Takht could issue a message to the Sikh community to avoid the conflict. According to tradition, the Akal Takht Jathedar releases an address to community and felicitates families of those killed during the Operation Bluestar in 1984.