Ghallughara (Operation Blue Star) 1984 · Ghallughara Divas

Culture of origin: Sikh · Historical

Holiday sources: Sikhism

From June 1 to 10, 1984, the Indian army, on the orders of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, assaulted the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar to remove the armed militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers, while crowds of pilgrims were gathered for the commemoration of Guru Arjan's martyrdom. The Akal Takht was so damaged that the Sikh community later pulled it down and rebuilt it. The government's white paper counted 493 civilians and militants killed, and Rajiv Gandhi later spoke of 700; independent estimates put the civilians killed in the complex at 4,712 to over 5,000, and human-rights groups put the total at over 10,000. Sikhs call it the Ghallughara, and the Akal Takht and the SGPC hold an annual congregation of remembrance on June 6.