The following timeline documents the insurgency in Punjab, India:
Date | Event | Source |
---|---|---|
March 1972 | Akalis routed in Punjab elections, Congress wins | [ citation needed ] |
17 October 1973 | Akalis ask for their rights through Anandpur Sahib Resolution | [ citation needed ] |
25 April 1980 | Gurbachan Singh of Sant Nirankari sect shot dead. | [1] |
2 June 1980 | Akalis lose election in Punjab | [2] |
16 Aug 1981 | Sikhs in Golden Temple meet foreign correspondents | [3] |
9 Sep 1981 | Lala Jagat Narain, Editor, Hind Samachar group murdered. | [4] |
29 Sep 1981 | Sikh separatists are killed on an Indian Jetliner in Pakistan when they hijack it. | [5] |
19 November 1981 | Police Inspector Pritam Singh Bajwa and Constable Surat Singh of Jalandhar were gunned down in Daheru village in Ludhiana district. The terrorists, who were hiding in the house of Amarjit Singh Nihang, all managed to escape. This act gained Babbar Khalsa and its chief Talwinder Singh Parmar notoriety. Named in the first information report were Wadhawa Singh (current Babbar Khalsa chief, now residing in Pakistan), Talwinder Singh Parmar, Amarjit Singh Nihang, Amarjit Singh (Head Constable), Sewa Singh (Head Constable) and Gurnam Singh (Head Constable). | [6] |
11 Feb 1982 | US gives cisa to Jagjit Singh Chauhan | [7] |
11 Apr 1982 | US based Sikh activist G. S. Dhillon barred From India | [8] |
July 1982 | Protesting Sikhs storm the parliament after the inaction of authorities regarding the deaths of 34 Sikhs in police custody | [9] |
4 Aug 1982 | Akalis demand autonomy and additional regions for Punjab | [10] |
11 Oct 1982 | Sikhs stage protests at the Indian Parliament, members of the Pro-Autonomy Faction, belonging to the Shiromani Akali Dal attack with swords the building, killing four people, five wounded, and at least 60 policemen were said to be injured. The attack is in response of the deaths of 34 Sikhs in police custody in Punjab last month. | [11] [12] |
Nov 1982 | Longowal threatens to disrupt Asian Games | [13] |
27 Feb 1983 | Sikhs permitted to carry daggers in domestic flights | [14] |
23 April 1983 | Punjab Police Deputy Inspector General A. S. Atwal was shot dead as he left the Harmandir Sahib compound by a gunman from Bhindranwale's group | |
3 May 1983 | Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, talks of violence being perpetuated against Sikhs and for India to understand | [15] |
18 June 1983 | A detective Inspector from Punjab police killed by Sikh militants | [16] |
14 July 1983 | Four policemen killed by Sikh militants in physical confrontation | [16] |
21 September 1983 | Senior superintendent of Police wounded and his guard killed by Sikh militants | [16] |
29 September 1983 | 5 Police constables killed by Sikh militants | [16] |
5 Oct 1983 | 6 Hindu passengers killed in 1983 Dhilwan bus massacre. | [17] [16] |
6 Oct 1983 | President's rule imposed in Punjab | [16] |
14 Oct 1983 | 2 people killed in a bombing at a Hindu festival in Chandigarh | [18] |
Oct 1983 | *Hindu pulled off a train and bus and killed | [19] |
mid-Oct 1983 |
| [18] |
21 Oct 1983 | A passenger train was derailed and 2 agricultural labourers travelling were killed by Sikh militants | [16] |
18 Nov 1983 | A bus was hijacked and 4 passengers were killed by Sikh militants | [16] |
9 Feb 1984 | A wedding procession bombed | [20] |
14 Feb 1984 | Six policemen abducted from a post near Golden Temple and one of them killed. | |
14 Feb 1984 | More than 12 Sikhs killed in riots in Haryana | [16] |
19 Feb 1984 | Sikh-Hindu clashes spread in North India | [21] |
23 Feb 1984 | 3 Hindus killed and 24 injured by Sikh militants | [22] |
25 Feb 1984 | 1 Hindu killed in by Sikh militants, total 69 Hindus slayed over last 11 days | [23] |
28 Feb 1984 | President of Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) H.S Manchada shot dead at ITO, Delhi | [24] |
29 Feb 1984 | By this time, the Sikh political centre had become the centre of the 19-month-old uprising by the Sikhs | [25] |
3 Apr 1984 | A prominent member of BJP, Harbans Lal Khanna, killed at Amritsar | [26] |
4 Apr 1984 | Professor V. N. Tiwari, a Rajya Sabha MP and father of Congress leader Manish Tewari was shot dead in Chandigarh while on a morning walk | [27] |
14 April 1984 | Surinder Singh Sodhi, follower of Bhindranwale, shot dead at a tea-stall outside the Golden Temple by a man and a woman | [28] |
15 April 1984 | Jasjit Singh, owner of the tea stall is shot and killed by two assailants. Co-conspirators Bachan Singh and Malik Singh Bhatia are killed inside the temple | [29] |
16 April 1984 | Discovery of the mutilated bodies of Surinder Singh Shinda alias Chhinda, and Baljit Kaur, the assassins of Surinder Singh Sodhi. | [30] |
12 May 1984 | Romesh Chander, son of Lala Jagat Narain, former Editor, Hind Samachar group murdered. | [31] |
27 May 1984 | Hindu politician killed in Ferozepur | [32] |
1 June 1984 | Army controls Punjab's security | [33] |
1 June 1984 | Total media and the press black out in Punjab, the rail, road and air services in Punjab suspended. Foreigners' and NRIs' entry was also banned and water and electricity supply cut off. | [34] [35] [36] |
5 June 1984 | Operation Blue Star to remove militants from Harmandir Sahib commences, Punjab shut-down from outside world. | [37] |
6 June 1984 | Daylong battle in temple | [38] [39] |
7 June 1984 | Harmandir Sahib Overtaken by Indian Army | [40] |
7 June 1984 | Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was killed and golden temple was relieved by the Indian Army. | [41] |
8 June 1984 | 27 Sikhs killed in protests in Srinagar, Ludhiana, Amritsar after Government forces fired on protesters | [42] |
9 June 1984 | Weapons seized, troops fired on | [43] |
10 June 1984 | Reports of anti-Sikh riots and killings in Delhi | [44] |
11 June 1984 | Negotiators close to a settlement on waters | [45] |
24 August 1984 | 7 Sikh terrorists abduct 100 passengers in 1984 Indian Airlines Airbus A300 hijacking | [46] |
31 October 1984 | Indira Gandhi assassinated | [47] |
1 November 1984 | 1984 anti-Sikh riots begin in Delhi | [48] |
3 November 1984 | Anti Sikh Violence a total of 2,733 Sikhs were killed | [48] |
23 June 1985 | Air India Flight 182 was bombed by Sikh terrorists killing 329 people (including 22 crew members); almost all of them Hindus | |
20 August 1985 | Harchand Singh Longowal assassinated | [49] |
29 September 1985 | 60% vote, Akali Dal won 73 of 115 seats, Barnala CM | [50] |
26 January 1986 | Sikhs have a global meeting and the rebuilding of Akal Takht declared as well as the five member Panthic Committee selected and have draft of the Constitution of Khalistan written | [51] |
29 April 1986 | Resolution of Khalistan passed by Sarbat Khalsa and Khalistan Commando Force also formed at Akal Takht with more than 80,000 Sikhs present. | [52] |
25 July 1986 | 14 Hindus and one Sikh passenger killed in the 1986 Muktsar Bus massacre by unidentified separatists | [53] |
30 November 1986 | 24 Hindu passengers killed in the 1986 Hoshiarpur Bus massacre by terrorists | [54] |
19 May 1987 | General Secretary CPI(M) Comrade Deepak Dhawan was brutally murdered at Village Sangha, Tarn Taran | |
14 June 1987 | Unidentified militants kill 25 in two attacks | [55] |
7 July 1987 | Unidentified terrorists attacked two buses, singled out and killed 70 Hindu bus passengers in 1987 Haryana killings | [56] [57] |
19 February 1988 | In Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur and Patiala, bombs were exploded in courts by Babbar Khalsa. 12 to 13 persons killed and nearly 50 injured. | [58] |
2 April 1988 | Unidentified gunmen stormed into huts and houses across Punjab state and killed 37 people, Including seven children. | [59] |
12 May 1988 | Operation Black Thunder II to remove militants from Harmandir Sahib | [60] |
20 May 1988 | A series of bombs allegedly planted by extremists exploded in Himachal Pradesh state buses. At least 10 people were killed. | [61] |
10 January 1990 | Senior Superintendent of Batala Police Gobind Ram killed in bomb blast in retaliation of police gang raping Sikh woman of Gora Choor village | [62] [63] |
16 June 1991 | 80 people killed on two trains by extremists | [64] |
17 October 1991 | 1991 Rudrapur bombings | |
25 February 1992 | Congress sweeps Punjab Assembly elections | [65] |
3 August 1992 | 29 hindus, first kidnapped and then killed by unidentified extremists in Uttarpradesh. | [66] |
7 January 1993 | Punjab's Biggest encounter done in village Chhichhrewal Tehsil Batala, 11 terrorists were encountered | |
1 March 1993 | Gurbachan Singh Manochahal, the leader of is killed by the police. | [68] [69] |
3 September 1995 | CM Beant Singh killed in bomb blast | [70] |
The Khalistan movement is a separatist movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikhs by establishing an ethno‐religious sovereign state called Khalistan in the Punjab region. The proposed boundaries of Khalistan vary between different groups; some suggest the entirety of the Sikh-majority Indian state of Punjab, while larger claims include Pakistani Punjab and other parts of North India such as Chandigarh, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh. Shimla and Lahore have been proposed as the capital of Khalistan.
Operation Blue Star was a military operation by the Indian Armed Forces conducted between 1 and 10 June 1984 to remove Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and other Sikh militants from the Golden Temple, a holy site of Sikhism, and its adjacent buildings.
Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was an Indian militant. He was the leading figure of the Khalistan movement, although he did not personally advocate for a separate Sikh nation.
Satwant Singh was one of the bodyguards, along with Beant Singh, who assassinated the Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, at her New Delhi residence on 31 October 1984. His attacks were in retaliation of Indira Gandhi's Operation Blue Star.
Dal Khalsa is a radical Sikh organisation, based in the city of Amritsar. The outfit was formed in 1978 by Gajinder Singh, the hijacker of Indian Airlines Flight 423. It came to prominence during Insurgency in Punjab along with Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in 1981. Members of the Dal Khalsa have also been accused of the assassination of Lala Jagat Narain. The primary aim of Dal Khalsa is to form a Punjabi Sikh nation state called Khalistan.
The Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) is a Sikh Khalistani militant organisation operating in the state of Punjab, India with prominent members based in Canada, United Kingdom and Pakistan. Its objective is the creation of a Sikh independent state of Khalistan through armed struggle. KCF is also responsible for many assassinations in India, including the 1995 assassination of Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh. It is designated as a Terrorist Organisation by the Government of India.
The Insurgency in Punjab was an armed campaign by the separatists of the Khalistan movement from the late-1970s to the mid-1990s. Economic and social pressures driven by the Green Revolution prompted calls for Sikh autonomy and separatism. This movement was initially peaceful, but foreign involvement and political pressures drove a heavy handed response from Indian authorities. The demand for a separate Punjabi Sikh nation‐state gained momentum after the Indian Army's Operation Blue Star in 1984 aimed to flush out militants residing in the Golden Temple in Amritsar, a holy site for Sikhs. Terrorism, police brutality and corruption of the authorities greatly exacerbated a tense situation. By the mid-1980s, the movement had evolved into a militant secessionist crisis due to the perceived indifference of the Indian state in regards to mutual negotiations. Eventually, more effective police and military operations, combined with a policy of rapprochement by the Indian government and the election loss of separatist sympathizers in the 1992 Punjab Legislative Assembly election, largely quelled the rebellion by the mid-1990s.
Jagjit Singh Chohan was a major Sikh leader of the Khalistan movement that sought to create a sovereign Sikh state in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. Chohan established the Council of Khalistan at Anandpur Sahib on 12 April 1980 and became its first self‐styled president.
Harjinder Singh Jinda was a Sikh militant and one of the two assassins of Arun Vaidya. He was responsible for three high-profile assassinations: Arjan Dass, Lalit Maken and Gen. Vaidya. He along with other members of Khalistan Commando Force participated in Indian history's biggest bank robbery of ₹ 57 million from Punjab National Bank, Miller Gunj branch, Ludhiana to finance the militancy for a separate Sikh state of Khalistan.
Operation Black Thunder is the name given to two operations that took place in India in the late 1980s to remove Sikh militants from the Golden Temple using 'Black Cat' commandos and commandos from Border Security Force. Like Operation Blue Star, these attacks were on the Sikh militants based in the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab.
The Dashmesh Regiment is a militant group, and is part of the Khalistan movement to create a Sikh homeland called Khalistan via armed struggle.
Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated at 9:30 a.m. on 31 October 1984 at her residence in Safdarjung Road, New Delhi. She was killed by her Sikh bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, in the aftermath of Operation Blue Star by the Indian Army between 1 and 8 June 1984 on the orders of Gandhi. The military operation was to remove Sikh militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and other Sikh separatists from the Golden Temple of Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar, Punjab, the holiest site of Sikhism. The military action resulted in the death of many pilgrims as well as damage to the Akal Takht and the destruction of the Sikh Reference Library.
Sukhdev Singh Dhillon, best known as General Labh Singh and also known as Sukha Sipahi and just Labh Singh, was a former Punjab police officer turned militant who took command of the Khalistan Commando Force after its first leader, Manbir Singh Chaheru, was arrested in 1986.
Bhai Manbir Singh Chaheru Also known as General Hari Singh was the Indian founder and first leader of the militant organisation Khalistan Commando Force.
The 1984 anti-Sikh riots, also known as the 1984 Sikh massacre, was a series of organised pogroms against Sikhs in India following the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Government estimates project that about 2,800 Sikhs were killed in Delhi and 3,350 nationwide, whilst other sources estimate the number of deaths at about 8,000–17,000.
The 1983 Dhilwan Bus massacre was a massacre of 6 Hindus by Sikh extremists amidst the Insurgency in Punjab. It occurred on 5 October 1983, when a bus going from Dhilwan in Kapurthala district to Jalandhar was attacked by Sikh militants in which six Hindu passengers were shot dead in Dhilwan in the northern state of Punjab, India.
Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) is a US-based secessionist group that supports the formation of Khalistan. Founded and primarily headed by lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in 2009, the organization was created in response to the lack of litigation to convict the murders and massacres of Sikhs after Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984.
The 25th anniversary of Indira Gandhi's assassination revives stark memories of some 3,000 Sikhs killed brutally in the orderly pogrom that followed her killing