AMRITSAR India fighters called for penal punishment to top officials of troubled Punjab state Friday and announced they were recruiting their ‘own armed force to guard the sanctity of the Golden Temple.
The moves came at a rally by about 3,500 Sikhs to mark the anniversary of the army’s 1984 assault on the holy shrine in which about 6,000 Sikhs were killed.
It was the second such meeting this week. The first on Wednesday ‘ended with about 200 angry Sikhs rampaging around the temple, killing one guard and wounding seven.
As at the earlier rally, several Sikh fugitives sat on the podium Friday, and Amritsar District Police Chief S.S. Virk said police were investigating how the wanted men again slipped into the sprawling temple complex.
Virk said charges would be brought against rally leaders because of threatening speeches and resolutions.
One resolution said those Punjab Chief Minister Sunjit Singh Barnala, Police Chief Julius Riberio, and India’s national governments were to blame for the deaths of innocent Sikhs.
It pledged “they will be taught the same lesson” as others who have challenged the Sikhs, citing historical enemies slain by Sikh warriors.
The resolutions were accepted by shouting slogans and a show of hands.
“This is a clear call for the liquidation of Barnala and Ribeiro. Our target also is (Indian Prime Minister) Rajiv Gandhi,” said Satwinder Singh Bhola, a speaker at the rally.
Bhola announced the plan for a corps of 600 Sikhs armed with swords, spears and knives to guard the Golden Temple, Sikhism’s holiest shrine.
He said the present 400 guards, ‘most of them former soldiers would be accepted as long as they were baptized Sikhs, those who have taken vows to follow the precepts of the warrior sect. Bhola said the guards would block police from entering the keep out “un” He said some outsiders had been using the temple as a sanctuary to commit violent acts and had been giving a bad name to the Sikh freedom fighters,
The entry into the temple by the army in June 1984 and a second raid on the shrine last April 30 by police and paramilitary troops caused great resentment even among moderate Sikhs.
The rampage Wednesday was Jed by Bimal Kaur Khalsa, widow of Beant Singh, one of Mrs., Gandhi’s assassins, and police are see~ king her on a charge of murder in the temple guard’s death.
The April temple raid, ordered by Barnala, set off increasing violence in the state, More than 80 people, most of them Hindus, have been killed since then in hit and run attacks that police habitually blame on Sikhs.
Police said one man was killed and three were wounded in such attacks Thursday night. Another man was shot and seriously wounded Friday when he attacked government paramilitary troops, police said.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 13, 1986
