Amritsar Massacres

Amritsar Massacres (1919, 1984) Two massacres occurred in Amritsar, in the Indian province of Punjab, which has a central significance for Sikhs as the site of their Golden Temple (Hari Mandir), containing the sacred Sikh scripture, the Granth Sahib. On 13 April 1919, following nationalist riots against the Rowlatt Bills which had led to the death of five Englishmen, Gurkha troops under the command of Brigadier R. H. Dyer fired on peaceful, unarmed nationalist crowds gathered in the Jallianwala Bagh, an enclosed park, killing 379 and wounding over 1,200. It led to growing resentment of British rule in India. Dyer was given an official, if belated, censure.

In 1984, the Golden Temple was seized by a group of militant Sikhs, who used it as a base for attacks to campaign for an independent, Sikh-dominated Punjab. The holy site was stormed on the orders of the Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, in defiance of the consequences of this act of sacrilege to the Sikhs. In revenge, Gandhi was assassinated by a militant Sikh, which in turn led to angry massacres of Sikhs by Hindus.