1984
Bhai Avtar Singh Parowal
Fell in the defence of the Harmandir Sahib and the Akal Takht, Amritsar, June 1984.
Born on 1 April 1950 in Parowal near Batala, the fifth of eight children, he took amrit in 1972 and sang with the Akhand Kirtani Jatha.
On 6 June 1984 he took up the kirtan inside the Harmandir Sahib after another raagi was killed. He was shot in both legs and died that evening.
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.