Amarinder pens Rajnath for books, artifacts taken from Golden Temple in 1984

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has written to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, seeking immediate restoration of the historic material removed from the library of the Golden Temple in Amritsar during Operation Bluestar in 1984. The chief minister said a delegation from Sikh organizations from the UK met him recently and discussed issues related to resident Indians and the Sikh community diaspora of the UK. Among them, was the subject of the material taken from the Golden Temple.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee has said 15,000 rare books, 16,000 artefacts related to the Sikh religion and history, edicts issued by the 10 gurus, and handwritten 'birs' (copies) of Guru Granth Sahib had gone missing after the 1984 operation. It has approached the Centre on multiple occasions for the "return" of the items.

In the letter to Rajnath Singh, the Punjab chief minister said the issue requires "urgent intervention" of the Home Ministry. He said that most of the material was taken away by security forces in June 1984, and no account has been given so far.

"The Sikh community had been raising this matter time and again. Even the Punjab government had been requesting the government of India to intervene to ensure that this historic material, wherever available, should be restored to the Golden Temple," he wrote. The CM urged Rajnath Singh to address the issue at the earliest, saying it would go a" long way" in meeting the demand of the community.

(With inputs from agencies.)