Capt Amarinder Singh being threaten from Germany – Operation Bluestar
Posted By Zaheerul Hassan
CHANDIGARH: Former Chief Minister and Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee President Capt Amarinder Singh had received threatening calls for his opposition to the Operation Bluestar memorial sometime back. Confirming that he had received the calls some time ago, the former Chief Minister told the Punjabnewsline that the caller who was from Germany appeared to be young from his voice.
He disclosed that when the person on the other end asked him why he (Amarinder) was opposing the memorial, he told him (the caller) that there were 47 lakh unemployed people in Punjab. There were no jobs as there was no investment or industry as it was moving out.
“I told them you people are settled well in the countries like Germany, why are you trying to vitiate peaceful atmosphere in Punjab”, he said, while adding that he told them also that such things will only create a sense of insecurity and Punjab will slide down further on economy and development. Justifying the opposition to the Bluestar Memorial, he said, the very fact that young people from as far as Germany are getting provoked by mere opposition to the memorial should be enough testimony that how dangerous it can be for peace in Punjab. He said, when he asked the caller his age he did not reveal it saying this had nothing to do with his age. Amarinder said, he took the call only first time. However, he did not take any subsequent calls from that number as later there were nine or ten more such calls from Germany in next few days.
The PCC President however, did not appear to have taken the threat call so seriously saying that they might be making these calls to everyone who has opposed the Bluestar memorial. In the same context, he said, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal might also have been threatened by some anonymous caller to set up the Bluestar memorial and he succumbed to the threats. Otherwise, Amarinder asked, why should Badal do it now in his third term as the Punjab Chief Minister after the Operation Bluestar? He pointed out, initially Badal tried to pass the buck on the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandik Committee (SGPC) on which he claimed to have no control. But, he added, gradually the government started adopting the memorial and now his son and the Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal has strongly been arguing that it is a peace memorial which will be a Gurdwara only and not a monument.
The PCC President, who has been vigorously opposing the memorial, said that Punjab needs to move ahead. He reiterated that setting up the memorial within the Golden Temple complex and that too in memory of those killed in the operation is not a good thing for Punjab. “What about the 35,000 people including the police and military personnel who lost their lives fighting terrorism in Punjab?” he asked, while adding, if at all a memorial has to be made it should be outside the Golden Temple complex and in memory of all those who lost their lives during the dark decade of terrorism.
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