Amritsar: BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani
on Tuesday faced hostile crowds of workers of some Akali Dal
factions during his visit to the Golden Temple when he was
greeted by slogans.
In the morning, when Advani entered the periphery of the
Golden Temple to pay obeisance, he was greeted with slogans of
Khalistan raised by activists associated with former MP
Simranjit Singh Mann.
Men of the SGPC task force escorted Advani into the
sanctum sanctorum, while Police Commissioner R P Mittal was
present to oversee the security.
Advani, his wife Kamala and daughter Pratibha were
offered Siropa at the information centre of the temple.
The BJP leader faced angry protests from President of
Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi) Jaswinder Singh who was present
there with dozens of his supporters.
Earlier, Singh and AISSF President Karnail Singh
Peermohammad, in a memorandum submitted before the Jathedar of
Akal Takht, said that the rally of Advani should be boycotted
in Amritsar since he had claimed he had a hand in the Indian
government's military action on Harmandir Sahib in June 1984.
When asked about his views on Operation Blue Star on the
Golden Temple in 1984, Advani walked away with folded hands.
Earlier, last evening during his arrival at the rally
venue in the city Advani was greeted with the slogans of
'Khalistan Zindabad' by radical Sikhs who were rounded up by
the police immediate after.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, November 15, 2011, 15:40