Orwellian year of doom refuses to  fade away for the Congress party and like Bofors keep coming back every time they chose to attack BJP for the Gujarat pogrom. There is even a looming threat of militancy taking roots yet again with SGPC honoring the victims of operation blue star in the precincts of  Golden temple.Even though Sushil Kumar Shinde has ruled out militancy taking roots, Akali Dal which claims to represent Sikh aspirations could take up if they were to be marginalized in national politics with NDA not mustering enough seats in 2014 to stage a comeback.

What happened in 1984 is undoubtedly a crime of huge proportions, a national calamity which left many dead and homeless. However to call it a pogrom on the lines of Post Godhra riots I feel is incorrect..The insane killing of a sitting Prime minister by brain washed assassins belonging to Sikh community triggered a voluntary retaliatory protest which was used by goons and hooligans across political spectrum to vandalize and ransack properties, kill innocent Sikhs, that left the community disenchanted even now since the law enforcement authorities chose to turn away from what was happening right in front of their eyes. Even a self proclaimed iconoclast like Khushwant Singh with unabashed praise for Indira Gandhi’s emergency could return Padma award for operation blue star.While talking of operation blue star people tend to neglect the pile of arms and ammunition stored near the sanctum sanctorum by militants led by Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale throwing a challenge to the authority of an elected Government. The Jatedars were infact espousing the cause of Khalistan separatism while guarding the arms and that needed to be punished. It was a brave and brilliant move by Indira Gandhi to have ordered cleansing of the temple precincts without bothering to inform her Sikh President that left the militants living in the comfort of religious security dead and finished. But it left a scar on the psyche of Sikhs that even today, Gen.Brar the lone surviving general who led the forces in perpetual fear of being killed. The judicial commissions have held the attacks to be retaliatory in nature while needle of suspicion was pointed against Sajjan Kumar and Tytler as having mobilized goons to intimidate Sikhs in 1984. Cases have been registered against them and now continue for more than a decade or so. Sonia Gandhi offered apologies to the Sikh community which the media felt was questioning the wisdom of her mother in law not expected of a sincere Bahu in Indian household. The Sikh Prime minister too offered apologies, the then President offered Kar seva at Golden temple, and to day the feeling of alienation of Sikhs is largely unfounded with a Sikh head of executive, Chief of Army Staff and Dy Chairman of planning commission proving it otherwise.

One Sandhu has written a memoirs of events in an army school in the aftermath of Delhi riots opening up the wounds yet again. He claims that mere apologies wont do and the perpetrators of the inhuman attacks on Sikhs must be brought to justice. Even those who lament lack of justice to the victims of 1984 should remember that even during NDA rule of 6 years nothing substantive took place to speed up the process. As the Hindu pointed out the fitting tribute to those massacred out of bigotry will be to build a monument in Delhi in their memory and offer an apology on behalf of the nation to those victimized for no fault of theirs. Sikhs have been valiant in guarding our territorial integrity and in history we have found Sikhism as a militant form of Hindusim was built around to face challenges from invading armies from the west. Let us salute the bravery of Sikhs and the man who initiated the Khalsa Guru Gobind singh. Let us share the grievances of those killed in the riots with a request that the community never patronize militancy yet again for it is a forgotten chapter in our history