Themes

Kharku Sangharsh

The armed struggle of the 1980s and 1990s: its fighters, its organisations, and the state's response.

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  1. 1978Babbar Khalsa founded after the Nirankari clashFirst Kharku organization
  2. Aug 1978Dal Khalsa founded (Gajinder Singh)Explicit-Khalistan political org
  3. Apr 24, 1980Baba Gurbachan Singh assassinatedThe Nirankari chief Baba Gurbachan Singh was shot dead in Delhi on 24 April 1980; Ranjit Singh, later Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib, was convicted of the murder.
  4. 1981-84ISI support cell under Gen. Akhtar Abdur RahmanReal Pakistani backing, separate from the forgeries
  5. Sep 9, 1981Lala Jagat Narain assassinatedThe killing that led to Bhindranwale's arrest and release
  6. Sep 29, 1981IA Flight 423 hijacked to LahoreFive Dal Khalsa members divert an Indian Airlines flight to Lahore, demanding Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale's release.
  7. Jun 23, 1985Air India Flight 182 bombingA bomb destroyed Air India Flight 182 off Ireland a year after Operation Blue Star; all 329 aboard died. Canada's inquiry blamed Talwinder Singh Parmar and the Babbar Khalsa.
  8. Jul 31, 1985Lalit Maken assassinatedCongress MP Lalit Maken, his wife and a visitor were shot dead outside their Delhi home on 31 July 1985, seven days after the Rajiv-Longowal Accord.
  9. Aug 20, 1985Sant Longowal assassinatedEnded political-settlement track
  10. Jan 26, 1986Sarbat Khalsa at Sri Akal Takht SahibPanthic Committee constituted; SGPC declared dissolved
  11. Apr 13, 1986Vaisakhi Sarbat KhalsaSangat endorses the call for Khalistan
  12. Apr 29, 1986Declaration of Khalistan, Sri Akal Takht SahibProclaimed by the Panthic Committee
  13. Aug 10, 1986General Vaidya assassinatedRetired Army chief Gen Arun Vaidya, who was responsible for clearing the Golden Temple in Operation Blue Star, was shot dead in his car in Pune.
  14. 1987-1993Peak Kharku periodAll major Kharku organizations operational
  15. 1988Avtar Singh Brahma killed; Labh Singh killedKLF and KCF leadership decapitated
  16. May 9 to 18, 1988Operation Black Thunder: the 1988 siege of Sri Harmandir Sahib ends in surrenderIn May 1988 Punjab Police, the CRPF and NSG besieged Kharku groups holding the Sri Harmandir Sahib complex, with the press watching. It ended in surrender on May 18 without an assault on the sanctum.
  17. Jun 21, 1991Punjab polls postponed a day before voting24 to 29 candidates killed in the campaign
  18. Nov 1991Disturbed Areas Act; three lakh security personnelFeb 1992 poll held; barely a fifth to a quarter vote
  19. 1992Sukhdev Singh Babbar killed; Talwinder Singh Parmar killedBKI leadership losses
  20. Feb 19, 1992Punjab Assembly election of 1992: a boycott, a 22 percent turnout and a Congress governmentUnder a boycott call and three lakh security personnel, Punjab voted on 19 Feb 1992; turnout was about a fifth to a quarter and Congress won 87 seats.
  21. Feb 1993Rataul Operation: Manochahal killedBTFK dismantled
  22. 1994-1995Jaswant Singh Khalra documents cremation groundsOver 6,000 secret cremations in one district
  23. Aug 31, 1995Beant Singh assassinated by Dilawar SinghEffective end of the active Kharku sangharsh
  24. Sep 6, 1995Khalra abductedJaswant Singh Khalra was taken from outside his Amritsar home by Punjab Police on 6 Sep 1995 and killed in custody; his killers were convicted a decade later by a court at Patiala.
  25. Jan 22, 2004Burail Jail escape: four undertrials tunnel outOn the night of 21-22 Jan 2004 four undertrials, three of them accused in the Beant Singh assassination, tunnelled out of the Model Jail at Burail, Chandigarh.
  26. 2007Khalra case sentences enhanced to lifeAmong the era's few real convictions
  27. Jul 3, 2026Satluj film on Khalra released, pulled in India by Jul 5The 1990s still cannot be shown

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