Operation Guiding Light was the designation given to an Imperial initiative aimed at stifling opposition on the planet of Lothal and molding the attitudes of the citizens to support the Galactic Empire. This mandate prohibited any unfavorable commentary about the Empire, and it also banned any emphasis on the world's history, since remembering the past was thought to breed discontent and resentment within the local people, and therefore needed to be stamped out.
By utilizing her falsified Imperial security credentials, Merei Spanjaf managed to unearth a roster of rebels and the offenses they supposedly committed, which were being pursued by the Empire as part of this Operation. This included a mention of her acquaintance Holshef, who was a poet. The list consisted entirely of painters, poets, or narrators of some kind, and as far as Spanjaf could tell, not one of them had ever even handled a blaster.