* To protest against heinous attack, call for Amritsar Bandh on June 6 * Appeal to the non-Sikh population of Amritsar to share the pain of the Sikh community Full Text of the Press Release Amritsar: Dal Khalsa has given the call for “Amritsar shutdown” on 6 June to mark the 30thanniversary of army attack in 1984 at Darbar Sahib and Akal Takht Sahib, code-named Operation Bluestar by the government of India. Addressing a press conferences at the party office, Dal Khalsa leadership said the motive to give the call for Amritsar Bandh was to protest against the killings of hundreds of innocent pilgrims, the loot of invaluable holy books, manuscripts and arte-facts from the Sikh Reference Library and to recall and relive the pain and agony of the heinous attack besides paying tributes to all martyrs and innocent persons killed in the dastardly inhuman action of the state. They said since Amritsar was a battleground we had decided to give the call for Amritsar bandh only. They urged the people to observe a peaceful bandh to send a strong and firm message to the government that the wounds of June 1984 genocidal attack were still simmering and that the Sikhs would never forget this. He clarified that the call was only for business and educational institutions and there would be no stoppage of transportation. They appealed to the non-Sikh population of Amritsar to share the pain of the community and express solidarity by closing their business premises. “It is time for the Hindu community to show that they are a friend of the Sikhs.” Outlining the programs, they said that to commemorate the day, a Genocide Remembrance Parade would go around the streets of Amritsar, on the eve of the thirtieth anniversary on June 5. They said the blood of innocent spilled on the sacred floor of Darbar Sahib cries for justice. No perpetrator has been held accountable for slaughtering hundreds of innocent pilgrims; no attempt has been made to address all territorial, economic, social, language and cultural issues and concerns for which the Sikh struggle was waged. They said the government of the day vandalized and looted the invaluable religious books and arte-facts from Sikh Reference Library and had not returned any of the cultural heritage till date. Elaborating further, party spokesperson reiterated that the Shiromani Akali Dal has always asserted that the Congress party had carried out the heinous attack on Sikhs. However, the fact is that the BJP asked for it, the Congress party carried out the attack and the whole of India reveled on it. Subsequently, the BJP elevated Indira Gandhi as “Devi” for destruction and desecration of Akal Takht Sahib. “Today, Congress is out of power and the SAD is in power with the BJP. It is time for the Badals to test the waters by seeking the return of arte-facts, manuscripts, rare holy books and cultural heritage from the Modi sarkar.
Posted on: Sun, 01 Jun 2014 14:20:42 +0000
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