Jernail Singh Bhindranwala Bluestar memorial gurudwara built in Golden temples

Op Bluestar Memorial dedicated to community
Plaque mentions name of Bhindranwale, SGPC ‘unaware’ about it
Perneet Singh
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 27
Almost 29 years after the Army operation and a string of controversies over the last one year, the Operation Bluestar Memorial was today dedicated to the Sikh community.
Damdami Taksal chief Harnam Singh Khalsa handed over its keys to SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar at a ceremony here. The memorial has been named Gurdwara Shaheedi Yaadgaar and its plaque mentions that it has been built in the memory of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and other “martyrs” of the Operation Bluestar in 1984.
Interestingly, the curtain from the plaque was removed after the ceremony got over. All five Takhts, the SGPC and various religious bodies felicitated Khalsa for performing the ‘kar sewa’ of the memorial. The Jathedars of all the five Takhts and the head granthi of the Golden Temple were also present.
Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh said the memorial was a symbol of the Sikh community’s self-respect and would inspire the future generations to follow the Sikh tenets.
The name of the memorial has been inscribed atop its entrance while on the either sides of the stairs leading to it, the names of Bhindranwale, Amrik Singh, Shubegh Singh and Thahra Singh have been engraved. The memorial is a double-storey building. On the ground floor is the octagonal shaped memorial in the form of the gurdwara, the work on the basement is still on and, therefore, it is lying unused.
Makkar clarified the memorial will continue to exist in the form of a gurdwara and there was no plan to exhibit anything related to the 1984 Army operation on the Golden Temple.
On Bhindranwale’s name on the plaque, he said he was neither aware about it nor his advice was sought on the matter. He said he will discuss the issue with the Akal Takht Jathedar. It was decided earlier that the memorial would not be named after any particular person and instead it will be in the name of “all the martyrs”.