CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday wrote to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh seeking the immediate restoration of the historic material removed from the library of the Golden Temple during Operation Bluestar in 1984.
Seeking Singh’s intervention, the CM said a delegation of representatives of the Sikh Organisations Coordinate Committee from the United Kingdom met him recently to discuss issues concerning Indians and the Sikh diaspora in that country. The matter of the temple library was brought up at that meeting.
Amarinder further pointed out that several valuable materials related to Sikhism had been taken away by security forces during the controversial operation, and no account had been given so far. The Sikh community raises the issue time and again. Even the Punjab government had been requesting the Centre to intervene to ensure that these materials, wherever they were, should be restored to the Sri Darbar Sahib, Amritsar, Amarinder wrote.
Amarinder sought Rajnath’s indulgence in the matter to sort out the issue at the earliest, saying it would go a long way in meeting the long-pending demand of the community. He also extended all assistance and cooperation that might be required by the Centre to resolve the matter.
Lost material
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee has said 15,000 rare books, 16,000 artefacts related to the Sikh religion and history, edicts issued by the 10 gurus, and handwritten ‘birs’ (copies) of Guru Granth Sahib had gone missing after the 1984 operation. The government however, has not replied to queries on the current location and condition of these materials.