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Nanakshahi almanac with Akal
Takht's picture has BJP seething
WSN Network
 Amritsar:
Perhaps it was the most natural of the developments. Perhaps anythng
other than this would have been objected to and would have surprised
right thinking people anywhere. This year is the 25th anniversary of
the Indian Army's attack on the Golden Temple and the Nanakshahi
Calender released by the SGPC this time carried a picture of the
Akal Takht destroyed in the attack.
But for a media
controlled by brahamanical powers and an alliance partner of Akali
Dal that is inspired by the hate philosophy of Hindutva, it was a
red rag. So it was immediately interpreted as a move to woo
hardliners.
Soon after the
calendar was released by SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar and Akal
Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh at a press conference here, the
Congress demanded a ban on its circulation, terming it a violation
of Election Commission guidelines and an act of creating a communal
divide. What was surprising was that the BJP too joined it, and the
Akali Dal leadership chose to stay silent.
The previously
released Nanakshahi calendars carried pictures of Harmandar Sahib
and the other Takhts, but this time the SGPC used a picture of the
Akal Takht when it was partially demolished in the 1984 Army action.
This year is the 25th anniversary of Operation Bluestar.
SGPC chief Avtar
Singh Makkar rightly said that this is a reality no one can change.
"It is a fact that the Army had attacked our holiest shrine and no
Sikh can forget the 1984 carnage on the direction of the then
Congress government.” Only problem is that he cannot remind his
party president Parkash Singh Badal to make it convenient for the
Akali leadership to be present at the Akal Takht on June 6 and lead
the prayers for those martyred in the attack. Neither can he remind
Badal that the latter's chum L K Advani, whom the Akalis and the
SGPC top brass is trying to instal as Prime Minister, has taken
credit for forcing Indira Gandhi to attack the Akal Takht.
The Congress
called the new calender as an act to create a communal divide and
said the Akalis rake up Operation Bluestar to create a communal
divide to gain votes.
25 March 2009
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