Panchkula (Haryana): As per reports the
Singh Sabha Gurdwara in Sector 7 of Panchkula, Haryana has declined to
entertain a request by the family of Indian Army’s former Lt. Gen.
Ranjit Singh Dyal to hold a prayer service on his first death
anniversary this month.
Ranjit
Dayal, Indian Army officer who had reportedly participated in
perpetuating attack on Sri Darbar Sahib and other Gurudwara Sahibs in
June 1984.
The refusal was reportedly conveyed on December 30, 2012 to former army officer Dyal’s widow Barinder Kaur Dyal.
It is notable that R. S. Dyal was one of
the commanding officers of Operation Blue Star, in which Indian army
had attacked various Sikh Gurudwaras in June 1984 in Punjab and
adjoining states.
As per an online news portal “Punjab
News Line” (PNL)’s news report the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak
Committee (SGPC), which controls management of majority of historic
Gudwaras in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, has reportedly backed
the refusal of the Panchkula Gurdwara, saying it was the ‘right thing to
do’.
“When the family approached the gurdwara
for his prayer service, the management said that it could not give
permission as there was objection from certain sections of the Sikh
community over his role in Operation Bluestar. They said that he (Gen.
Dyal) should have quit the army instead of leading the attack on the
Golden Temple,” an unnamed family source was quotes to have said by PNL.
When Gen. Dyal, who had Z-plus category
security, died in January last year, the family had organised his prayer
service at the same gurdwara, the report adds.
“This time, the gurdwara management
refused to hold the prayers for his first death anniversary, saying that
some sections of the community had objected to it,” an unnamed family
source is quoted to have said.
SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar
reportedly said: “If the gurdwara management has taken this decision,
they must have given a thought to it. The Golden Temple is the most
sacred shrine of Sikhs. Dyal led the forces, saying that he was
duty-bound. He should have realised that this was his religion’s most
sacred place”.
“Usne prayer kya karani jisne guru (Guru Granth Sahib) ki chhati mein goli lagayi hui hai
(Why should he (Dyal) have a prayer service when he has shot the guru
in the chest). We have the Guru Granth Sahib with the bullet. He led the
forces in doing that,” PNL has quoted Avtar Singh Makkar to have said,
dismissing the plea of the family of Gen. Dyal.
It is notable that “Operation Blue Star”
was code-name for Indian army’s attack on various Sikh Gurudwaras in
Punjab and adjoining states, including Sri Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple)
of Amritsar. In this armed attack Indian army used tanks to destroy the
historic building of Akal Takhat Sahib, the seat of Sikh sovereignty. As
per credible sources and historic documents thousands of Sikhs were
massacred in this army operation that was never reviewed by the army or
the Government.