Clash over anti-India slogans at Golden Temple commemoration of 'Operation Blue Star'; situation brought under control by police

Amritsar: Brandishing of swords and use of sticks was witnessed on Wednesday during a ceremony to mark the 34th anniversary of the Army’s ‘Operation Blue Star’, inside the Golden Temple complex. The clash between radical Sikh elements and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) took place in front of the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikh religion. The incident took place just some distance from the sanctum sanctorum ‘Harmandir Sahib’, the holiest of Sikh shrines located inside the Golden Temple. [caption id=“attachment_4498311” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of the Golden Temple. CNN News18[/caption] At least one person was injured as the SGPC task force members tried to prevent the radical elements from disturbing the ceremony. Video footage of the incident showed task force members confronting the radicals who were raising secessionist slogans. The radical elements raised pro-Khalistan and anti-India slogans. Police personnel, present on the premises in plainclothes, tried to control the situation from getting out of hand. “A turban was thrown on the ground in the clash,” one eyewitness said. The SGPC officials said the situation was prevented from getting out of control due to swift action by the task force members. Akal Takht chief Gurbachan Singh said the ceremony was held “peacefully” as a remembrance of the people who were killed during Operation Blue Star in June 1984. The Army had carried out Operation Blue Star to flush out heavily armed militants and radicals from inside the shrine complex between 1-10 June, 1984.