Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit

ThePrint On Camera Videos In Pictures

Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story

More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice

Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit

ThePrint On Camera Videos In Pictures

Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story

More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice

Women and children are Operation Blue Star’s martyrs. They shaped Sikh memory

The Shaheedi Gallery at Sachkhand Sri Harmandir Sahib stands as a lasting tribute, ensuring that future generations remember the faces and stories behind those tragic days.

In June 1984, thousands of devotees gathered at Sri Harmandir Sahib to commemorate the Shaheedi Gurpurab of Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji. Among them were mothers carrying children in their arms, school-going girls travelling with their families, elderly women seeking spiritual solace, and devotees who had come simply to bow before the Guru. Nobody imagined that many would never return home. The Indian government launched Operation Blue Star, a military assault on the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar, Punjab.

Every year, as the Sikh Panth remembers the Ghallughara or massacre of June 1984, much is said about the events that unfolded at Sri Harmandir Sahib. Yet among the most poignant stories are those of the women and children who became part of that tragedy. Their legacy occupies a special place in Sikh memory because it reflects the resilience, devotion, and courage that have long defined Sikh womanhood.

Sikh history has always accorded immense respect to women. More than five centuries ago, Guru Nanak Dev Ji challenged the discrimination faced by women and proclaimed: “Why call her inferior, from whom even kings are born?” 

Guru Gobind Singh Ji carried this vision forward through the creation of the Khalsa in 1699. By bestowing the name “Kaur” upon Sikh women, he gave them an identity independent of caste, lineage, and social status. A Kaur was not merely a daughter or wife of someone else; she was an individual endowed with dignity, courage, sovereignty, and spiritual equality. The women who attained martyrdom during June 1984 embodied these very ideals.

Among the most heartbreaking stories are those of Bibi Satnam Kaur and Bibi Waheguru Kaur of Gurdaspur. The two sisters were in school when they died. According to the account recorded in Kaurnama Part III by Baljinder Singh Kotbhara, when their father, Mohar Singh, witnessed the military assault on Sri Harmandir Sahib and feared the desecration of the sacred shrine, he resolved to resist. The book recounts that during this resistance, he placed his two daughters in the path of the Army tanks. The girls were killed, and the tanks were destroyed.  resulting in the destruction of the tanks and........

© ThePrint