More Than Thirty Years of Unforgettable History: The Sikh Memories Toward the Golden Temple Destruction

Abstract

The destruction of the Golden Temple, the most holy place for Sikhs, by the Indian army in 1984 has led to “more than 30 years of tragic memories”. However, this event has been under Indian government discourse that adopt a “please forget the past” strategy. The Sikh armed forces were set up afterward to systematically fight the Indian army for a decade (1984-1993) which, eventually, led to the “Punjab Crisis”. The destruction of the Golden Temple, the most holy place for Sikhs, by the Indian army in 1984 has led to “more than 30 years of tragic memories”. However, this event has been under Indian government discourse that adopt a “please forget the past” strategy. The Sikh armed forces were set up afterward to systematically fight the Indian army for a decade (1984-1993) which, eventually, led to the “Punjab Crisis”.

Although much of this violent history has involved Sikhs as both victims and perpetrators, but 1984 event was interesting. Not only is it still contemporary to Indian reconciliation process, it has been able to affect many Sikh minds. The destruction of the Golden Temple was not merely the destruction of an ordinary building, but it destroyed a crucial symbolic and holy place that implied the ethnic negation.

This review article discusses about the conditions and the consequences of the temples destruction and will consider the “truth” and “memories” through the eyes of Sikhs and their world-views. The article will analyze how those world-views reflect the Sikhs shared traumatic memories. Synthesis of this event is presented at the end of the article.