Operation Bluestar 31st Anniversary
Operation Bluestar 31st AnniversaryReuters

Indian military's Operation Bluestar, which took place from 3–8 June 1984, commemorates its 31st anniversary as "ghallughara divas" or genocide day on Saturday, 6 June.

The operation was ordered by the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to remove political revolutionary and leader of the Damdami Taksal (a Sikh religious group) Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his armed followers from the Harmandir Sahib Complex in Amritsar, Punjab. The group planned to take control of The Golden Temple.

The Indian military conducted Operation Bluestar following three operations -- Operation Metal, Operation Shop, Operation Woodrose -- using chemical weapons, tanks, artillery, helicopters and armoured vehicles.

More than 83 militants were killed and 220 were injured, apart from the death of more than 492 civilians. Bhindranwale was killed by the army on 6 June.

However, four months after the incident, Gandhi was killed by her Sikh bodyguards Satwant Singh and Beant Singh on 31 October, 1984.

As part of the 31st anniversary, heavy security measures have been put in place in the state by the Punjab police and Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), with more than 13,000 policemen on duty near the Hall Gate and the famous Golden Temple.

Meanwhile, a Sikh youth was killed during the bandh by the radical Sikhs on Friday, who allegedly removed the posters of Bhindranwale.

Check out some photos of Operation Bluestar and the security measures in Amritsar:

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