EDITORIAL: An explosive device went off late last Saturday night at the Heritage Street near the Sikhism’s holiest site of Golden Temple in Amritsar, injuring one person. While the police were still investigating, a second blast occurred close to the same spot on Monday morning, in which another person was slightly injured.
According to preliminary police investigations, both explosions were of low intensity, and that no triggering mechanism or shrapnel were found in them.
That indicates the devices used were crudely assembled. Clearly, it was not an organised attempt to cause maximum damage, but a rather amateurish go at creating panic. Things could have been much worse considering that thousands of devotees visit the shrine every day.
Although the explosions took place outside the Golden Temple, they may have revived memories of the 1984 storming of the temple’s inner sanctum, Harmandir Sahib, by special security forces of the Indian army to take out Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a prominent religious figure leading the movement for a separate Sikh homeland, Khalistan.
The operation led to assassination of prime minister Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh bodyguards, triggering deadly violence against members of the Sikh community across India. The authorities therefore have taken a serious notice of the two explosions.
Supervising the investigations the Director General of Police of Punjab state sufficed to offer the comments, “It is too early to say if it’s someone’s mischief, a terror attack, or has a personal angle” adding, though, that the timing is of significance.
The timing suggests the blasts may be linked to a young fire-brand preacher, Amritpal Singh, who was trying to revive the separatist movement, and whose arrest last month along with many of his followers had sparked widespread protests among the Sikh diasporas.
It would not be surprising in the communal tensions-driven politics of India, if it turns out that some ‘Sangh Parivar’ zealots, or even intelligence agency operatives have caused the blasts as a warning signal to the Sikh community against harbouring separatist sentiments. Even after the police complete their inquiry and analysis, the truth may never be made public for its obvious implications.
The authorities in Amritsar are expected to enhance security in and around the temple. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, (Supreme Gurdwara Management Committee) responsible for administration of all Sikh places of worship will have to take extra precautionary measures to ensure no untoward incident happens at its most revered spiritual site in Amritsar.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023