As Congress leader and Member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday spent his second-day performing ‘sewa’ (voluntary service) at Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib) - Sikhism’s holiest shrine in Punjab’s Amritsar, the attempt is being seen as a subtle outreach to the Sikhs.
Even as the party leaders have asserted that Mr. Gandhi is on a ‘spiritual’ visit to Amritsar yet the ‘political’ message of reaching out to the ‘aggrieved’ Sikhs, following Operation Bluestar and subsequent 1984 anti-Sikh riots, can’t be just brushed aside as Mr. Gandhi is expected to spend one more day in Amritsar. It appears that through performing ‘service’ at the Golden Temple, a silent message of ‘penance’ from Mr. Gandhi has been delivered, the political significance of which can’t be ignored in the run-up to the 2024 parliamentary poll.
The Congress party and especially the ‘Gandhi’ family has been over the years been cornered by several Sikhs and political parties for Operation Bluestar and subsequent 1984 anti-Sikh riots. It was on June 6, 1984, when the Army had stormed the complex of the Golden Temple to flush out extremists led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. At that time, Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister of the country, and months after the operation, on 31 October 1984, Mrs. Gandhi was assassinated in vengeance by her two Sikh bodyguards as a consequence followed the anti-Sikh riots.
