AMRITSAR, India, June 5, Reuter: Police clamped a curfew on the Sikh Holy City today to block Sikh pilgrims from going to the Golden Temple and to avert communal clashes after unknown gunmen killed six Hindus on the third anniversary of the Indian army’s assault on the Golden Temple.
Paramilitary police stopped pilgrims reaching the Temple, the Sikhs’ holiest shrine, in the walled city of Amritsar.
Curfew was also in force in Punjab’s industrial city of Ludhlana, where gunmen yesterday shot dead a leader of the militant Hindu Shiv Sena (Army of Shiva, a Hindu god).
Amritsar city Police Chief Suresh Arora told Reuters an indefinite round the clock curfew was imposed to prevent tension during the cremation today of the Hindu victims and a general strike called by the Shiv Sena.
Three gunmen sprayed bullets at Hindus yesterday afternoon in an industrial area of Amritsar, killing four and injuring one.
The gunmen later killed two more Hindus on the city’s out skirts.
Arora said police shot dead a freedom fighter early today who they believed had taken part in the attack. Those with him escaped.
Police also reported one other death today near Amritsar, where Sucha Singh, President of the local HorseTaxi Drivers’ Union, was shot dead. They could not say whether there was a political
motive.
Ludhiana Shiv Sena leader Jagdish Tangri called for a “Black Day” of protest today throughout Punjab against yesterday’s killings. Murders of minorityHindus has led in the past to bloody HinduSikh clashes in the State where Sikhs are fighting for an independent Sikh homeland called Khalistan.
The toll from such violence has been running at more than 70 a month so far this year.
Most Hindurun shops in towns remained shut, but witnesses said the call was ignored in most places.
The curfew however was more effective. The narrow streets of Amritsar’s walled area around the huge Golden Temple Complex were deserted except for the oddcow or group of small boys playing makeshift cricket.
Police sources said the curfew was expected to remain in force until after tomorrow, the final day of the three-day commemoration of the army storming.
Indian troops entered the Temple Complex on June 4, 1984, and took three days to overcome the freedom fighters led by Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale who defended the complex till the end.
The Operation cost more than 10,000 lives, including that of Bhindranwale, and outraged the Sikhs worldwide, eventually leading to the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her bodyguards.
Bullet holes and damage by army tanks are still visible in the building surrounding the actual Temple, which stands in the centre of a marblelined artificial lake.
Freedom fighters inside the complex had planned meetings tomorrow to mark the anniversary to honor families of those who they said had died in police custody.
The freedom fighters slipped past police pickets into the temple a week after the imposition.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 12, 1987
