AMRITSAR: Akal Takht Jathedar Giani (high priest) Harpreet Singh kicked up a controversy on the 36th anniversary of Operation Bluestar on Saturday as he said every Sikh wanted Khalistan.
If the Union government offers a separate state, the community will accept it, he said. The anniversary passed off peacefully amid protests and slogan shouting by members of radical Sikh groups at the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar.
After the culmination of the event, Singh, in a reply to the question on slogans being raised in favour of Khalistan by some hardliners told the media, “There is nothing wrong if slogans in favour of Khalistan are raised…If the government offers us Khalistan, what else do we need? We will accept it, because every Sikh wants it.”
To a question on pro-Khalistan slogans raised at the Golden Temple complex, Singh said he found nothing wrong in it.
“But they should have done it after the conclusion of the religious programme at the Akal Takht,” he added. Endorsing Singh’s views, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Gobind Singh said, “If the government offers it (Khalistan) we will accept it.’’
According to sources, police tried to stop the activists who came in large numbers to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple ignoring social distancing norms. But they managed to get inside the complex after heated arguments