Journalist: Mr. Ambassador from the statements of Akali Ministers and Senior party functionaries who have resigned from their posts it is clear that the Punjab Chief Minister did not consult them before ordering troops into the Golden Temple.
Ambassador: That’s right.
Journalist: As a result Me. Barnala has lost support in Akali legislature party. But to continue in office he has been assured support by Rajiv Gandhi’s Congress party.
Ambassador: Very Correct.
Journalist: Does it mean that the story of Kashmir will be repeated in Punjab? Is Barnala ignorant of G.M. Shah’s bitter fate and reaction after Congress (I) left him in the lurch?
Ambassador: Not in national interest to disclose.
Journalist: Mr. Ambassador, Punjab Governor, Mr. S.S. Ray was greeted with Saipan (wailing for the dead) of his government when he visited the Golden Temple three days after the second Operation Bluster.
Ambassador: That’s right.
Journalist: A day earlier, Mr. Surjit Singh Barnala was warned of dire reprisals by some young men when he went to offer prayers at the Golden Temple for getting the sin of attack condoned.
Ambassador: Very Correct.
Journalist: Don’t you think the reaction of the Saipan performing women and the warning of the youth indicates the general disapproval of the Sikhs to the sacrilege of their holiest shrine? Does it not spell doom for the perpetrators of the sacrilege?
Ambassador: Not in national interest to disclose
Journalist: Mr. Ambassador, Indian Foreign Minister has boasted in The Parliament that his government had planted its agents in almost All the Sikh organizations.
Ambassador: That’s right.
Journalist: The duty of the agents is to set one organization against another and to tarnish the image of every Sikh leader so that both the Credibility of leaders and unity among Sikhs are destroyed.
Ambassador: Very correct.
Journalist: don’t you think the job of the agents is becoming increasingly difficult because of the follies committed by Delhi Masters? Don’t you think their each move to weaken and divide the Sikhs is proving counter-productive and is strengthening the Khalistan movement?
Ambassador: Not in national interest to disclose.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 9, 1986
