Gurdwara declines to hold prayer for Operation Bluestar General
22 Jan 2013 7:20 AM IST
A gurdwara here is in the midst of a row over its refusal to hold a prayer service for a decorated former Army general as he had participated in Operation Bluestar, the June 1984 action to flush out heavily-armed terrorists from the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
The Singh Sabha Gurdwara in Sector 7, adjoining Chandigarh, declined to entertain a request by the family of Lt Gen RS Dyal to hold a prayer service on his first death anniversary this month. The refusal was conveyed on 30 December to Gen Dyal’s widow Barinder Kaur Dyal.
SGPC, which controls management of gurdwaras in Punjab, Haryana and HP, has controversially backed the refusal of the Panchkula gurdwara, saying it was the ‘right thing to do’.
A 1965 India-Pakistan war hero, Gen Dyal was the chief of staff of Western Command headquarters at Chandimandir Cantt near here when Operation Bluestar was carried out in 1984 June.
‘When Dyal’s family members approached the gurdwara for his prayer service, the management said it could not give permission as there was objection from certain sections of the Sikh community over his role in Operation Bluestar. They said Gen Dyal should have quit Army instead of leading the attack on Golden Temple,’ a family source said here Monday.
When Gen Dyal, who had Z-plus security, died in January last year, the family had organised his prayer service at the same gurdwara. ‘This time, the gurdwara management refused to hold the prayers for his first death anniversary, saying that some sections of the community had objected to it,’ the family source said.
Defence analyst Mandeep Singh Bajwa said: ‘This is very sad and deplorable. Why should soldiers have to pay for the decisions of their political masters? All Sikhs have equal right to religious services. I condemn it in the strongest possible words. Religious authorities should not intrude into the daily lives of people.’
A defiant SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar said: ‘If the gurdwara management has taken this decision, they must have given a thought to it. Golden Temple is the most sacred shrine of Sikhs. Dyal led the forces, saying that he was duty-bound. He should have realised that this was his religion’s most sacred place.’
Gen Dyal was decorated with Maha Vir Chakra (MVC), the country’s second highest gallantry award during war-time.
The Singh Sabha Gurdwara in Sector 7, adjoining Chandigarh, declined to entertain a request by the family of Lt Gen RS Dyal to hold a prayer service on his first death anniversary this month. The refusal was conveyed on 30 December to Gen Dyal’s widow Barinder Kaur Dyal.
SGPC, which controls management of gurdwaras in Punjab, Haryana and HP, has controversially backed the refusal of the Panchkula gurdwara, saying it was the ‘right thing to do’.
A 1965 India-Pakistan war hero, Gen Dyal was the chief of staff of Western Command headquarters at Chandimandir Cantt near here when Operation Bluestar was carried out in 1984 June.
‘When Dyal’s family members approached the gurdwara for his prayer service, the management said it could not give permission as there was objection from certain sections of the Sikh community over his role in Operation Bluestar. They said Gen Dyal should have quit Army instead of leading the attack on Golden Temple,’ a family source said here Monday.
When Gen Dyal, who had Z-plus security, died in January last year, the family had organised his prayer service at the same gurdwara. ‘This time, the gurdwara management refused to hold the prayers for his first death anniversary, saying that some sections of the community had objected to it,’ the family source said.
Defence analyst Mandeep Singh Bajwa said: ‘This is very sad and deplorable. Why should soldiers have to pay for the decisions of their political masters? All Sikhs have equal right to religious services. I condemn it in the strongest possible words. Religious authorities should not intrude into the daily lives of people.’
A defiant SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar said: ‘If the gurdwara management has taken this decision, they must have given a thought to it. Golden Temple is the most sacred shrine of Sikhs. Dyal led the forces, saying that he was duty-bound. He should have realised that this was his religion’s most sacred place.’
Gen Dyal was decorated with Maha Vir Chakra (MVC), the country’s second highest gallantry award during war-time.
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