after the West Bengal elections and the new Bihar Cm. There are Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland, Sikkim, Mizoram, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu.
Of these only one is up for election in 2027. That is Punjab, India, the only sikh majority state. This article goes into the outreach the BJP has made to the sikh population, including one of their officials calling those killed in the storming of the Golden Temple "shaheed" (martyrs)
since the party broke its historic alliance with SAD after the farmers protests its trying to go its own way and this article goes into how its doing that. Punjab is going to be a 4way contest SAD AAP INC and BJP.
Anyhow D.K Singh gives his 10c on it.
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think of an opposition [leader](https://theprint.in/statedraft/amid-bjps-sikh-outreach-and-evolving-strategy-in-punjab-why-ministers-martyr-remark-sparks-debate/2958849/) calling militants “*shaheed”* or martyrs. You could trust the right-wing ecosystem to jump to its feet and label him as anti-India and anti-national. Or, they would simply label him a part of the “*tukde-tukde”* gang, someone who sympathises with those who wanted to disintegrate India.
However, there was no such outrage when Maharashtra minister and senior BJP leader Girish Mahajan said as much and more earlier this month at the Damdami Taksal Sikh seminary, once headed by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Mahajan called the Army’s Operation Blue Star a “black day”. He called those killed in that operation “*shaheed*.” Mahajan then went on to draw a [parallel](https://theprint.in/india/operation-blue-star-black-day-maharashtra-minister-military-action-akin-to-invasion-by-abdali-2/2955139/) between the Indian Army’s actions in 1984 and Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah Abdali’s invasions of the Golden Temple.
BJP leaders, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani, had [supported](https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/badal-backs-advani-on-blue-star/story-SeEe9UlUEQXsSB6ORLJMVL.html) Operation Blue Star. Advani, in his autobiography, *My Country, My Life* (2008), wrote that the BJP had “ultimately forced” Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to “use the military and liberate the Golden Temple from its anti-national occupants.”
# Lessons in history
But Mahajan, like many others, may contend that it’s the Advani-led BJP’s history much of which has changed in the Modi-Shah era. In August 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a sharp [departure](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/modis-attack-on-akal-takht-remark-shift-from-centres-line/articleshow/102666485.cms) from the Government of India’s and his own party’s stated line on Operation Blue Star, calling it “an attack on Akal Takht.”
“It was in Mizoram that Indiraji acquired the habit of using the army against own people,” Modi said in the Lok Sabha, alleging that civilians had been attacked by the Indian Air Force in 1966. In Mizoram, the Mizo National Front (MNF) had declared independence from India on 1 March 1966. It wanted to capture the Army and paramilitary bases. The idea was to raise the flag of an independent Mizoram for at least 48 hours until Pakistan raised their cause in the United Nations. Indira Gandhi ordered the air strike to [prevent](https://theprint.in/opinion/politically-correct/modi-attack-on-indira-gandhi-for-military-action-was-more-about-politics-than-national-security/1713367/) the MNF from overrunning the Assam Rifles outpost in Aizawl.
Modi was probably not briefed properly about why the Indian Air Force did what it did in Mizoram. Or, he got swayed in his own rhetorical flourish. Be that as it may, the fact is that Modi hasn’t repeated these charges. He obviously realised it soon that casting aspersions on an army or air force action even to blame Indira Gandhi is never “smart politics.” Dragging the armed forces into politics never goes down well with the people.
This is where Girish Mahajan went over the top. Making martyrs out of the militants killed in an army operation is going too far. And comparing our army operation with Ahmad Shah Abdali’s attacks only makes it worse. So, why is the BJP not condemning his remarks or not even distancing itself from them? Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis even [defended](https://theprint.in/india/fadnavis-defends-minister-mahajan-amid-row-over-operation-blue-star-remarks-anti-sikh-riots-a-fact/2956060/) Mahajan, saying that his remarks should be seen in the context of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
***Also Read:***[ ](https://theprint.in/opinion/politically-correct/mamata-naveen-nitish-vajpayee-advani-bjp-modi-shah/2960135/)[*Mamata, Naveen, Nitish used Vajpayee-Advani’s BJP to climb up. They must pay back to Modi-Shah*](https://theprint.in/opinion/politically-correct/mamata-naveen-nitish-vajpayee-advani-bjp-modi-shah/2960135/)
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