A note before reading
Sensitivity note: this page describes events that caused immense suffering and that remain living memory for many families. Some readers lost parents, children, spouses, homes or livelihoods in 1984, and many carry that grief today. The events are also the subject of strong and differing views in India and in the Sikh diaspora. GurVichaar aims to set out what is widely documented, calmly and respectfully, without political advocacy. If this subject is painful for you, please read at your own pace, and consider speaking with family, your sangat or a trusted counsellor.
This page does not give casualty figures. Numbers for both June and November 1984 have been disputed between official reports, independent inquiries and community accounts, and the differences are themselves part of the history. Readers who wish to study them are encouraged to consult the official inquiry reports and careful scholarly work rather than any single summary. Where this page describes differing views, it does so to help you understand them, not to take a side.
The background in Punjab
By the early 1980s Punjab was in turmoil. The Akali Dal had launched a mass agitation in 1982, the Dharam Yudh Morcha, pressing long-standing demands about the state's powers, river waters, Chandigarh and religious matters. Negotiations with the central government repeatedly failed. At the same time violence was rising in the state, and Punjab saw killings of people from different communities. Security forces and armed groups were both involved in the escalating violence.
Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, head of the Damdami Taksal, had become a powerful religious and political figure, and he and his armed followers took up residence within the Harmandir Sahib complex, later fortifying the Akal Takht. How to assess his role, and the government's handling of the crisis in the years before 1984, remains deeply contested among Sikhs, historians and political commentators, and people of good faith hold differing views.
Operation Blue Star (June 1984)
In early June 1984 the Indian Army launched Operation Blue Star to remove the armed militants from the Harmandir Sahib complex in Amritsar. The operation took place at the time of the gurpurab marking the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev Ji, when many pilgrims — including families — were present. Heavy fighting took place, and soldiers, militants and many civilians and pilgrims lost their lives. Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was among those killed.
The Akal Takht was very badly damaged, and the Sikh Reference Library within the complex was destroyed by fire, with the loss of many manuscripts and historic documents; the fate of its collection has remained a matter of concern and enquiry. Operations were also carried out at a number of other gurdwaras in Punjab. For Sikhs around the world, the assault on their holiest site caused profound grief and a lasting sense of hurt, and some Sikhs in public life returned honours or resigned in protest.
The assassination and the violence of November 1984
On 31 October 1984 the Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, was assassinated in New Delhi by two of her Sikh bodyguards. In the days that followed, Sikhs were attacked in Delhi and in other cities and towns across northern and central India. Sikh men and boys were killed, often in front of their families; homes, businesses and gurdwaras were looted and burned; and many women suffered violence. Many survivors have given testimony that the attacks appeared organised and that police protection was largely absent.
Many families, especially in parts of Delhi, lost several men in a single day, and the widows and children who survived rebuilt their lives with enormous courage, often in resettlement colonies. Many Sikhs and some organisations describe the November killings as a pogrom or a genocide, while official Indian records have commonly used terms such as "riots", which many survivors regard as inadequate. At the same time, many Hindu, Muslim and other neighbours sheltered Sikhs at risk to themselves.
Inquiries, courts and accountability
Several official inquiries have examined the November violence. They include the Misra Commission of the mid-1980s and, most prominently, the Justice Nanavati Commission of Inquiry, whose report was presented in 2005. Its findings led to further action, and the Prime Minister of the day apologised in Parliament in 2005 for what had happened. Independent citizens' reports published soon after the events also documented survivor testimony. Many survivors and observers felt that earlier inquiries had not gone far enough, and further committees were set up over the years.
Courts in India have heard many cases over the decades, and there have been convictions, including some that came more than thirty years after the events. Survivors and advocates have also pointed to the long delays, the cases that ended without convictions, and the difficulty of obtaining justice. The question of accountability remains a painful and important one for many Sikh families. Survivors' own testimony has been central to every step towards accountability.
Aftermath and remembrance
The years after 1984 saw prolonged violence in Punjab, involving militant groups and state counter-insurgency, in which many people of all backgrounds lost their lives and serious human rights concerns were raised. Peace gradually returned to the state in the 1990s. The Akal Takht was later rebuilt through kar seva under Panthic direction, after a government-arranged reconstruction was not accepted by much of the Sikh community. Families of those who disappeared during this period have also sought answers.
Each June, Sikhs gather at the Akal Takht and in gurdwaras worldwide to remember those who died, and each November families and sangats remember the victims of the violence. For many Sikhs, remembrance is joined with Ardas for the departed, care for survivors, and the Guru's teaching that the Divine light is in all — a call to seek justice without losing compassion, and to pray for the good of all.
Timeline
- 1982
The Akali Dal launches the Dharam Yudh Morcha, a mass agitation on Punjab's demands. Historical record
- June 1984
Operation Blue Star at the Harmandir Sahib complex; the Akal Takht is badly damaged and the Sikh Reference Library destroyed by fire. Historical record
- 31 October 1984
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards. Historical record
- November 1984
Sikhs are killed and Sikh homes, businesses and gurdwaras attacked in Delhi and other cities. Historical record
- 1985
The Misra Commission is appointed to inquire into the November violence. Historical record
- 2005
The Justice Nanavati Commission report is presented; the Prime Minister apologises in Parliament. Historical record
- Every year
Sikhs gather in June and November to remember those who died. Historical record
Gurbani
ਨਾਨਕ ਨਾਮ ਚੜ੍ਹਦੀ ਕਲਾ ॥ ਤੇਰੇ ਭਾਣੇ ਸਰਬੱਤ ਦਾ ਭਲਾ ॥
Naanak naam charhdee kalaa. Tere bhaane sarbat daa bhalaa.
Through the Name, O Nanak, may our spirits stay in rising optimism (Chardi Kala); by Your will, may there be good for all.
ਨਾਮ ਰਾਹੀਂ, ਹੇ ਨਾਨਕ, ਸਾਡੇ ਹੌਸਲੇ ਸਦਾ ਚੜ੍ਹਦੀ ਕਲਾ ਵਿੱਚ ਰਹਿਣ; ਤੇਰੇ ਭਾਣੇ ਵਿੱਚ ਸਭ ਦਾ ਭਲਾ ਹੋਵੇ।
The closing lines of the Panthic Ardas (not part of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji) — rising spirit and the good of all — express how many Sikhs hold grief and hope together.
Sources & further reading
- Report of the Justice Nanavati Commission of Inquiry (1984 Anti-Sikh Riots), Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India (2005)
- J. S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (The New Cambridge History of India), Cambridge University Press
- Khushwant Singh, A History of the Sikhs, Oxford University Press
- Pashaura Singh and Louis E. Fenech (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies, Oxford University Press