History “being repeated” with new debates

By Apurba Das Gupta

New Delhi It seems History is not only being “repeated,” but also giving birth to new controversies.

The two such back-to-back ‘repetitions’ in a gap of three days are evoking a mixed response from the Modi 2.0 dispensation.

According to political analysts, if the cover story of June 4 edition of RSS’s mouthpiece ‘The Organiser’, recalling the Tiananmen Square massacre on its anniversary is a ‘shot in the arm’ for the Government relating to present Sino-Indian face-off, Akal Takht chief’s ‘justification’ of the demand for Khalistan on Saturday is a ‘major setback.’

On the 36th anniversary of Operation Bluestar yesterday, acting Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh said, ” All Sikhs want Khalistan and will accept it if offered by India.”

The comments of the religious Body head invited condemnation from both the ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress.

Responding to a query from media on Saturday, the Akal Takht chief also said, “There is no harm if Sikh youth raise slogans in praise of Khalistan.”

Akal Takht is the supreme temporal authority for Sikhs among the five takhts (temporal seats of Sikhs).

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Gobind Singh Longowal also endorsed Giani Harpreet Singh’s ‘stance’.

It is probably for the first time that the heads of two supreme Sikh bodies- Akal Takht and SGPC have openly supported the cause of a separate state of Khalistan.

Reacting to the Gani’s comment, Punjab Pradesh Committee president Sunil Jakhar said, ” Those sitting on a position of respect should also realise the responsibility it carries.”

Punjab BJP president Ashwani Sharma maintained, “Not just Punjabis, but every Indian is religiously attached with Akal Takht and those sitting on respectable positions should have not commented on something which hurts the unity and integrity of the Nation.”

Meanwhile, ‘The Organiser’ editor had remarked that the intent behind the cover story of the June 4 edition of the RSS mouthpiece was to highlight that China’s response to the Covid-19 crisis, where it has suppressed figures and blocked a probe into the origin of the outbreak, was similar to the way it had crushed student protesters who were peacefully agitating for political freedoms in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989.

On its cover, ‘The Organiser’ has used the iconic photograph of a solitary young man standing up to a column of tanks rushed to break up the protests by students demanding, among other things, more political freedom.

The editor also said that China’s attempt to cover up the Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan has, besides attracting global opprobrium, generated considerable resentment among its people.

He, further said, “While the world is battling the Covid-19 crisis, China is involved in aggressive posturing in Taiwan, South China Sea, Hong Kong and now Ladakh. Whenever there is a crisis with the Communist regime, it behaves aggressively internally or with bordering Nations.”

The Narendra Modi Government, though has not publicly criticised China for failing to alert the world in time about the Wuhan outbreak, it has joined the demand for a probe and also called for reforming the WHO, a pitch which is seen as shorthand for the global public health body’s ‘indulgence’ of Beijing’s cover-up.

(Agencies)