Saturday, June 6, 2009

June 6, 1984


D-Day may loom large but it's worth remembering that June 6, 1984 was a critical date in history.
Twenty-five years ago today the Indian army stormed the Golden Temple in Amritsar, killing hundreds of Sikh separatists headquartered there.

3 comments:

WesternGrit said...

Good post. Being of Sikh extraction myself... I was only thinking of "D-Day" today. Still, the day will live in infamy for other reasons too.

One of the many reasons I despise the mixture of religion and politics. Strong secularity is the only way for a nation to allow for peaceful coexistence of all its diverse peoples...

WesternGrit said...

Incidentally, I traveled there and to 2 other temples in Punjab in the years since (1985, 1993, 1994/1995, 1999), and saw the damage done. Ancient manuscripts (original copies of the Sikh holy scriptures) were destroyed, and I saw photos of bodies laid strewn around the compounds.

Two sides used religion to justify stupidity, and good people died as a result - on both sides. Beautiful, serene places were destroyed.

Sad, all around.

Jesmi said...

Great post.