Will accept Khalistan if government offers it: Akal Takht Jathedar

Amritsar: The Sikh community will accept Khalistan, a separate state for Sikhs, if the government offers it, Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh said on Saturday.

The Jathedar (head priest) of Akal Takht (the highest temporal seat of Sikhs) was talking to the media here on the 36th anniversary of Operation Bluestar, which was carried out in 1984 to flush out heavily-armed terrorists holed up in the Golden Temple.

Asked if the demand for Khalistan was justified, Singh said, “If we get it, then what else do we need?”

“If the Government of India offers us, then we will accept it,” he noted.

“Which Sikh in the world does not want it?” Singh added.

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Gobind Singh Longowal also endorsed the views of the Akal Takht jathedar and said if Khalistan is given to the community, it would be acceptable to Sikhs.

To a question on pro-Khalistan slogans raised at the Golden Temple complex, Harpreet Singh said, “There was nothing wrong in it. But they should have done it after the conclusion of the religious programme which was in progress at the Akal Takht.”

Earlier in the day, pro-Khalistan slogans were raised in the premises of the Golden Temple here to mark the 36th anniversary of Operation Bluestar.

Around a hundred Sikh activists led by Imaan Singh Mann, son of President of Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) and former MP Simranjit Singh Mann, raised pro-Khalistan slogans at the Akal Takht in the premises of the Golden Temple on Saturday.