Mr. Speaker, today we remember a terrible event that took place 33 years ago and marked a horrific escalation in tensions between Sikhs and the India government.
Apparently seeking to target militants, the Indian army launched Operation Blue Star in June of 1984, attacking the Harmandir Sahib complex or Golden Temple in Amritsar. This event precipitated the assassination of Indira Gandhi and subsequent coordinated massacres against the Sikh community.
The Golden Temple is the most sacred site to the Sikh faith. Innocent lives were lost, and the temple itself was damaged.
We cannot change the past, but it is important we learn its lessons and promote justice and reconciliation as we go forward.
Any attacks on holy sites obviously have a profound negative impact on community relations and have a searing effect on the psyche of the faithful. They of course leave thousands of innocents vulnerable. This particular attack clearly did all of those things.
People should be able to pray without fear of violence.
Throughout the world, Canada must make human rights, religious freedom, justice, and reconciliation central foreign policy priorities.