Amritsar – Mrs Gandhis Last Battle

On 5th June 1984 the Indian army began its attack on the complex at Amritsar which housed the two most sacred shrines of the Sikh Community.

The Golden Temple and the Akal Takhat.Generals, who had pledged to minimum force and on no account to violate the shrines, were prepared for the fierce and adept resistance they encountered.

Having suffered severe casualties the infantry were driven back. Mark Tully and Satish Jacob who ran the BBC’s bureau in Delhi here trace the long build-up to the storming of the Sikh stronghold.