Punjab CM holds closed-door meeting with Akal Takht Jathedar

PTI, Jun 5, 2022, 6:02 PM IST

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday paid obeisance at the Golden Temple here and held a closed-door meeting with Akal Takht Jathedar Gyani Harpreet Singh ahead of the Operation Bluestar anniversary.

Mann after paying obeisance at the Sikh shrine went straight to the residence of the Jathedar. Tight security arrangements were made keeping in view his visit.

However, what transpired at the meeting was not shared by the chief minister with the media when he came out of the residence of the Jathedar. Meanwhile, the security has been beefed up in the city as a large number of Sikh devotees are expected to throng the Akal Takht on June 6. The Army had carried out Operation Bluestar in June 1984 to flush out militants from the Golden Temple complex.

Mann had on Saturday reviewed the law and order situation ahead of the anniversary of Operation Bluestar and said the state police has been put on high alert for maintaining peace in the state.

The CM had said no one should be allowed to disturb the hard-earned peace of the state at any cost.

Last month, the Jathedar had advised Sikhs to keep licensed weapons, drawing criticism from Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. The Punjab government had recently pruned the Jathedar’s security cover.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) had later claimed that the Punjab government restored the security cover of the Akal Takht Jathedar but he refused to take it back.