AMRITSAR: The Damdami Taksal of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, in a hard hitting statement issued here on Oct.18, dubbed Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) President Gurcharan Singh Tohra as a government agent who, in a move 10 recapture SGPC’s president ship for the 20th time, connived with the government to hold the Damdami Taksal responsible for Operation Blue Star and Operation Black Thunder. Thus giving rule credit to the government for its conducting these op ¢rations to flush out militants from the Golden Temple complex, the Damdami Taksal said.

Three top leaders of the Taksal Bhai Mokham Singh, Bhai Gajjan Singh and Bhai Prem Singh in a joint statement said that the decision of the government to hold general elections to the SGPC had frustrated Tohra who was sacred 10 face the Sikh masses. In his attempt 10 persuade the government from: not holding general elections to SGPC, Tohrahad launched a vilification campaign against the Damdami Taksal on the basis of apocryphal and malicious facts. They also blamed Tohra for inviting the security forces for conducting Operation Black ‘Thunder.

They said that since the management or the Golden Temple complex had been with the SGPC, it was Tohra’s sole responsibility to protect the Golden Temple complex from being “misused and pre vent such acts being committed that profaned the holy place,” The Damdami Taksal never interfered with the SGPC functioning. Tohra should have resigned from the SGPC since he had failed to perform his responsibility, they said. The Damdami Taksal said that the “sarbat khalsa” held in October 1986, had authorized the Damdami Taksal to take up “kar seva” for reconstruction of the Akal Takht. Later, on October 29,1991, when it again resumed “kar seva”, the then SGPC President Baldev Singh Sibia and Secretary Harinder Singh Khalsa were present on the occasion, They said that the nikashi work was being conducted by the same artists who were associated with this work at the Golden Temple complex for the last four generations. If Tohra had some better art is for the nikashi work, the Damdami Taksal would not mind employing them forth same, maintained its leaders.

Article extracted from this publication >>  October 22, 1993