Intro
Sikhism has been in existence for more than five hundred years. Throughout its existence, Sikhs have struggled to maintain their religious identity through a number of religious conflicts in India. One of the most recent was the invasion of the Golden Temple, which housed the holiest shrine of the Sikhs in Amritsar, Punjab. This invasion of the Golden Temple (Darbar Sahib) is also known as Operation Blue Star.

Operation Blue Star was an plan engineered by the Indian Army to "flush out" Sant Jarnail Singh Bhrindranwale out of the Golden Temple. Sant Jarnail Singh Bhrindranwale and his followers had sought refuge in the Golden Temple prior to the attack. This two day attack began on June 5, 1984 and end on June 7, 1984 when Bhrindranwale was killed.

From the Sikhs' persectives, Sant Jarnail Singh Bhrindranwale was a devoted Sikh who tried to preserve Sikhism by educating the younger generation about the religion. Bhrindranwale was described as a "charismatic preacher, much beloved of the youth of Punjab" [27] On the other hand, the Indian government saw Bhrindranwale as a threat to their national security.

Roots of the Conflict
The conflict between the Sikhs and the Indian government was partially about the struggle of the Sikhs to maintain their religious identity and partially a political struggle. Although the Indian government includes Sikhs and Muslims, the majority are Hindus. The Hindus believe in a caste-based society while the Sikhs are opposed to it. Therefore, both the Indian government and the Sikhs are trying to preserve their religious and social beliefs.

The conflict between the Sikhs and the Indian government can be seen in the content of "in" group and "out" group that religion tends to create. In this case, the Hindus in the Indian government are the "in" group while the Sikhs are the "out" group. There is an inherent conflict between the Hindu-lead Indian government and the Sikhs do not believe in a caste-based society.

As Inderjit Singh Jaijee states in his book, Politics of Genocide, "Caste is a much more heavily charged entity. Sikhism's rejection of caste makes it highly 'revolutionary' in the Indian context." [28]

The root of the Operation Blue Star conflict was the Nirankari-Sikh clashes, in particular the clash on April 13, 1978. "The Nirankaris are a..sect of Sikhs who believe that God is formless. This sect did not accept Guru Gobind Singh as the last Sikh guru...Orthodox Sikhs resented the philosophy and scriptures propagated by the Nirankaris." [29] On April 13, 1978, the Nirankaris held a convention and they made many statements which the Sikhs found offesive. Some followers of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale went to the Nirankari Congregation with a non-violent intention to "dissuade the Nirankari Chief from degrading Sikh religion and its Gurus" (Singh Osan). Thirteen of the non-violent protesters, followers of Bhrindranwale, were shot.

The Congress Party of the Indian government began to play a role in this clash when they started to support the cause of the Nirankaris. For example, the Congress Party paid for many expenses of the Nirankari Congregation. The Congress Party 's support for the Nirankaris formation deepened the division between the Orthodox Sikhs and the Indian government. This tension between the two parties eventually led Bhrindranwale to seek refuge in the Golden Temple out of fear that he would be executed by the Indian Army. Operation Blue Star was the Indian Army's plan to "flush" out Bhrindranwale.

We do not have sufficient information to say who was wrong and who was right in this conflict. However, here are some details about the attack.

1. Choice of day
June 3 was the anniversary of the Martyrdom day of Guru Arjan Dev. Thousands of Sikhs were expected to travel from throughout India to the Golden Temple on this day. Thus the timing of the Army's attack increased the number of victims who were at the Golden Temple to celebrate this anniversary.

2. The Lives Lost
The Army's stated goal was to "flush out" Bhrindranwale. Nevertheless, during the attack, the Army imposed a curfew where no one was allowed to leave the temple. As the result of this curfew, thousands of the worshippers were trapped in the temple. Among these thousands of Sikhs trapped, most suffered severely. Thousands of Sikhs' lives were lost as the outcome of this attack.

3. How did the Sikh community suffer?
The destruction of the temple was devastating. The Akal Takht, a building within the temple, was burnt down. The library which contained many of the original handwritten copies of holy scriptures, in particular, the Granth Sahib and Hukamnammahs, bearing signatures of the Gurus and other precious articles was also lost in the flames

4. Other attacks
At the same time that the Golden Temple was being attacked, some seventy other gurdwaras (Sikhs temples) were also being attacked. As stated in Politics of Genocides: "While the Darbar Sahib was under attack, other Army units were battling their way into 74 other gurdwaras in Punjab." [30]