1984
Sant Jarnail Singh Khalsa Bhindranwale
Fell in the defence of the Harmandir Sahib and the Akal Takht, Amritsar, June 1984.
Head of the Damdami Taksal from 1977, a preacher who called a generation back to the Guru and to amrit, and the leading figure of the Dharam Yudh Morcha.
He fell outside the Akal Takht on 6 June 1984. The Akal Takht declared him a shaheed of the Panth in 2003. See also his full page in the People section.
Biography summarised from 1984tribute.com, based on information from families.
In the first week of June 1984 the Indian Army surrounded and attacked the Harmandir Sahib complex in Amritsar while it was full of pilgrims gathered for the martyrdom day of Guru Arjan. A few hundred Singhs under Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Bhai Amrik Singh and General Shabeg Singh held the Akal Takht and the buildings around the sarovar against infantry, commandos and finally tanks.
The fighting ended on the morning of 6–7 June. The Akal Takht was left in ruins and the Sikh Reference Library burned. The Panth remembers those who fell in its defence as shaheeds, and their names are read at the Akal Takht each June.