About 1984

In June 1984, 100,000 Indian troops, under leadership of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, were ordered to attack Sikh religious sites. Besides the Army’s attack on Darbar Sahib (“Golden Temple” to foreigners, and akin to the Sikh Vatican), which was dubbed “Operation Bluestar”, at least 41 other gurudwaras were also attacked. According to several independent and Indian Government reports, the Army trained for over a year on a replica before launching the attack on a Gurpurab, a religious holiday, when the largest number of Sikhs were at the Darbar Sahib. Eyewitnesses report 4,000-8,000 people were killed in the Darbar Sahib alone. 

On October 31, 1984, after Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards, anti-Sikh pogroms were launched under the leadership of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who declared “When a big tree falls, the earth does shake a little”. Sikhs were targeted across India, though some of the worst and best-documented violence took place in the capital city of New Delhi. There were at least 3,000 Sikh deaths in three days in New Delhi alone. Watch and assess for yourself!

Articles:

• Barbara Crossette, “India’s Sikhs: Waiting for Justice”
• Ram Narayan Kumar, “The Ghalughara: Operation Blue Star – A Retrospect”
• Human Rights Watch, Dead End in Punjab
• Twenty Years of Impunity
• Dabinderjit Singh, “The Truth Behind The Amritsar Massacre”

Who are Sikhs?

• At a Glance
• Sikhi: Faith and Followers