Damdami Taksal faces heat over ‘bonhomie’ with BJP on eve of Operation Blue Star anniversary

In Punjab, the 42nd anniversary of Operation Blue Star seems to be at the centre of a row between the Damdami Taksal – an influential Sikh organisation that was once headed by militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale – and the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) led by former MP Simranjit Singh Mann.

On Friday, Damdami Taksal chief Harnam Singh Dhuma and Mann engaged in a heated argument over events organised in remembrance of Operation Blue Star. Mann accused the Damdami Taksal head of deliberately organising a separate function to observe the anniversary at the Taksal headquarters in Mehta, Amritsar, with the intention of undermining the annual event held at Sri Akal Takht Sahib on June 6.

It is not the first dispute between Mann and Dhuma. Mann, whose party is a proponent of Khalistan, has been among several pro-Khalistan voices who have questioned Dhuma’s perceived “proximity” to the BJP. Even the Sukhbir Singh Badal-led SAD, which was allied with the BJP until 2020, is uncomfortable with Dhuma’s bid to align with the BJP.

The Damdami Taksal finds itself placed between two competing narratives. On the one hand, the organisation reveres Bhindranwale, who was killed on June 6, 1984 during the Operation Blue Star, as a leading pro-Khalistan figure. On the other hand, it faces questions over its growing closeness to the BJP, a party that remains staunchly anti-Khalistan.

The most visible recent flashpoint was the Damdami Taksal’s support to the BJP during the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections. In March this year, the Damdami Taksal participated in the Maharashtra government’s commemoration of the 350th martyrdom anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib at an event attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Its critics saw this event as the Damdami Taksal cosying up to the BJP.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Damdami Taksal spokesperson Harshdeep Singh Randhawa insisted the Maharashtra event was not a Taksal initiative. “It was a Maharashtra government programme, in which Damdami Taksal’s cooperation was sought,” he said.

Justifying the Taksal’s involvement, Randhawa said, “There is no alternative for Sikhs in Maharashtra except supporting the BJP in Assembly elections. The Congress is not with us, Shiv Sena is not with us, we have no alternative and we have no leader who can collectively put forth our demands.”

In this vacuum, Dhuma stepped in as a “patron”, lending legitimacy to the community’s electoral calculations in exchange for a commitment that if the government was formed, Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib’s martyrdom anniversary would be observed at the state level, Randhawa said.

The Damdami Taksal’s engagement with the BJP, Randhawa added, is strictly limited to Maharashtra. “At the national level, and even within Punjab, there is absolutely no coordination of any kind with the BJP.”

“The issues that defined Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale’s movement – Chandigarh’s status, the rights of Sikh political prisoners, the unresolved wounds of the 1984 military operation and the Delhi anti-Sikh massacres, the demand to repeal Article 25 that classifies Sikhs under the broader Hindu umbrella – remain the Taksal’s non-negotiable agenda. A detailed memorandum has reportedly been submitted to the BJP leadership, including Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, laying out these demands explicitly, including compensation for 1984 victims. We have not made it public because we want some consensus to build first,” Randhawa said.

The message to Fadnavis and, through him, to the BJP’s central leadership is that if the BJP wants to engage with the Damdami Taksal in Punjab, the starting point is the resolution of Sikh issues, particularly the release of Sikh political prisoners, he said.

“The Taksal’s demand, in 1984 and now, is equality of citizenship and recognition of rights. We want to live as equal citizens. We ask for our rights. Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale asked for rights, and Baba Harnam Singh Dhuma also asks for rights,” Randhawa added.

A major obstacle to any Damdami Taksal-BJP rapprochement lies not in political bargaining, but in ideology. “The problem with the RSS begins when they say Sikhs are not a separate nation. The demand to repeal Article 25, to formally recognise Sikhs as a distinct people, is most important for the Taksal,” Randhawa said.

This contradiction was on display at the very Maharashtra event that brought the Taksal and the BJP together. Hindu preachers on the same stage described Sikhs as “Sanatani”, which was said to be an “RSS framing”.

However, giving credit to the BJP, Randhawa praised the opening of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor and the declaration of Veer Baal Diwas. He also highlighted Amit Shah’s statement at the Maharashtra event – that without Guru Tegh Bahadur’s martyrdom, not a single Hindu would have survived in the world.

“The BJP has shown positivity that no other national party has shown. But it is not enough. The BJP needs to show greater generosity if they want the Taksal’s support in Punjab. We supported the (Badal-led) SAD on the condition of constructing a 1984 memorial inside the Golden Temple. Similarly, we have issues related to the Sikh community to which the BJP needs to be committed,” Randhawa added.