Timeline of the insurgency in Punjab

See also: List of terrorist incidents in Punjab, India

Punjab insurgency chronology outline

Date	Event	Source
March 1972	Akalis routed in Punjab elections, Congress wins
17 October 1973	Akalis ask for their rights through Anandpur Sahib Resolution
25 April 1980	Gurbachan Singh of Sant Nirankari sect shot dead.
2 June 1980	Akalis lose election in Punjab	[1]
16 Aug 1981	Sikhs in Golden Temple meet foreign correspondents	[2]
9 Sep 1981	Jagat Narain, Editor, Hind Samachar group murdered.	[3]
29 Sep 1981	Sikh separatists are killed on an Indian Jetliner in Pakistan when they hijack it.	[4]
19 November 1981	Police Inspector Pritam Singh Bajwa and Constable Surat Singh of Jalandhar were gunned down in Daheru village in Ludhiana district. The terrorists, who were hiding in the house of Amarjit Singh Nihang, all managed to escape. This act gained Babbar Khalsa and its chief Talwinder Singh Parmar notoriety. Named in the first information report were Wadhawa Singh (current Babbar Khalsa chief, now residing in Pakistan), Talwinder Singh Parmar, Amarjit Singh Nihang, Amarjit Singh (Head Constable), Sewa Singh (Head Constable) and Gurnam Singh (Head Constable).	[5]
11 Feb 1982	US gives cisa to Jagjit Singh Chauhan	[6]
11 Apr 1982	US Khalistani G. S. Dhillon barred From India	[7]
July 1982	Armed Sikh militants storm the parliament in a protest related to the deaths of 34 Sikhs in police custody	[8]
4 Aug 1982	Akalis demand autonomy and additional regions for Punjab	[9]
11 Oct 1982	Sikh stage protests at the Indian Parliament	[8]
Nov 1982	Longowal threatens to disrupt Asian Games	[10]
27 Feb 1983	Sikhs permitted to carry daggers in domestic flights	[11]
23 April 1983	Punjab Police Deputy Inspector General A. S. Atwal was shot dead as he left the Harmandir Sahib compound by a gunman from Bhindranwale's group
3 May 1983	Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, talks of violence being perpetuated against Sikhs and for India to understand	[12]
18 June 1983	A detective Inspector from Punjab police killed by Sikh militants	[13]
14 July 1983	Four policemen killed by Sikh militants	[13]
21 September 1983	Senior superintendent of Police wounded and his guard killed Sikh militants	[13]
29 September 1983	5 Police constables killed by Sikh militants in a week since 22	[13]
5 Oct 1983	6 Hindu passengers killed in 1983 Dhilwan bus massacre	[14][13]
6 Oct 1983	President's rule imposed in Punjab	[13]
14 Oct 1983	3 people killed in a bombing at a Hindu festival in Chandigarh	[15]
Oct 1983	*Hindus pulled off a train and bus and killed	[16]
mid-Oct 1983	Two people injured in a bomb blast on the outskirts of Chandigarh. Five people were killed and more than 30 injured when grenades exploded in two theaters in Delhi. 19 people were injured when a grenade went off in the New Delhi railway station.	[15]
21 Oct 1983	A passenger trained was derailed and 19 agricultural labourers travelling were killed by Sikh militants	[13]
18 Nov 1983	A bus was hijacked and 4 Hindu passengers were killed by Sikh militants	[13]
9 Feb 1984	A wedding procession bombed	[17]
14 Feb 1984	Six policemen abducted from a post near Golden Temple and one of them killed by Bhindranwale's men
14 Feb 1984	More than 12 people killed in Sikh - Hindu riots in Punjab and Haryana	[13]
19 Feb 1984	Sikh-Hindu clashes spread in North India	[18]
23 Feb 1984	11 Hindus killed and 24 injured by Sikh militants	[19]
25 Feb 1984	6 Hindus killed in by Sikh militants, total 68 people killed over last 11 days	[20]
29 Feb 1984	By this time, the temple had become the centre of the 19-month-old uprising by the separatist Sikhs	[21]
28 March 1984	Harbans Singh Manchanda, the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president murdered. He had demanded ouster of Bhindranwale from Akal Takht few days back	[22]
3 April 1984	Militants cause fear and instability in Punjab	[23]
8 April 1984	Longowal writes – he cannot control Bhindranwale anymore	[24]
14 April 1984	Surinder Singh Sodhi, follower of Bhindranwale, shot dead at the temple by a man and a woman	[25]
17 April 1984	Deaths of 3 Sikh Activists in factional fighting	[26]
27 May 1984	Hindu politician killed in Ferozepur	[27]
2 June 1984	Total media and the press black out in Punjab, the rail, road and air services in Punjab suspended. Foreigners' and NRIs' entry was also banned and water and electricity supply cut off.	[28][29][30]
3 June 1984	Army takes controls Punjab's security	[31]
5 June 1984	Operation Blue Star to remove militants from Harmandir Sahib commences, Punjab shut-down from outside world.	[32]
6 June 1984	Daylong battle in temple	[33][34]
7 June 1984	Harmandir Sahib over taken by army	[35]
7 June 1984	Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale dead	[36]
8 June 1984	27 Sikhs killed in protests in Srinagar, Ludhiana, Amritsar after Government forces fired on protesters	[37]
9 June 1984	Weapons seized, troops fired on	[38]
10 June 1984	Reports of anti-Sikh riots and killings in Delhi	[39]
11 June 1984	Negotiators close to a settlement on waters	[40]
24 August 1984	7 Sikh terrorists abduct 100 passengers in 1984 Indian Airlines Airbus A300 hijacking	[41]
31 October 1984	Indira Gandhi assassinated	[42]
1 November 1984	1984 anti-Sikh riots begin in Delhi	[43]
3 November 1984	Anti Sikh Violence a total of 2,733 Sikhs were killed	[43]
23 June 1985	Air India Flight 182 was bombed by Sikh terrorists killing 329 people (including 22 crew members); almost all of them Hindus
20 August 1985	Harcharan Singh Longowal assassinated	[44]
29 September 1985	60% vote, Akali Dal won 73 of 115 seats, Barnala CM	[45]
26 January 1986	Sikhs have a global meeting and the rebuilding of Akal Takht declared as well as the five member Panthic Committee selected and have draft of the Constitution of Khalistan written	[46]
29 April 1986	Resolution of Khalistan passed by Sarbat Khalsa and Khalistan Commando Force also formed at Akal Takht with more than 80,000 Sikhs present.	[47]
25 July 1986	14 Hindus and one Sikh passenger killed in the 1986 Muktsar Bus massacre by Sikh terrorists	[48]
30 November 1986	24 Hindu passengers killed in the 1986 Hoshiarpur Bus massacre by Sikh terrorists	[49]
19 May 1987	General Secretary CPI(M) Comrade Deepak Dhawan was brutally murdered at Village Sangha, Tarn Taran
14 June 1987	Sikh militants kill 25 in two attacks	[50]
7 July 1987	Sikh terrorists from Khalistan Commando Force attacked two buses. They singled out and killed 70 Hindu bus passengers in 1987 Haryana killings	[51][52]
19 February 1988	In Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur and Patiala, bombs were exploded in courts by Babbar Khalsa. 12 to 13 persons killed and nearly 50 injured.	[53]
2 April 1988	Sikh gunmen stormed into huts and houses across Punjab state and killed 37 people, Including seven children.	[54]
12 May 1988	Operation Black Thunder II to remove militants from Harmandir Sahib	[55]
20 May 1988	A series of bombs allegedly planted by Sikh extremists exploded in Himachal Pradesh state buses. At least 10 people were killed.	[56]
10 January 1990	Senior Superintendent of Batala Police Gobind Ram killed in bomb blast in retaliation of police gang raping Sikh woman of Gora Choor village	[57][58]
16 June 1991	80 people killed on two trains by extremists	[59]
17 October 1991	1991 Rudrapur bombings
25 February 1992	Congress sweeps Punjab Assembly elections	[60]
3 August 1992	29 hindus, first kidnapped and then killed by sikh extremists in Uttarpradesh.	[61]
7 January 1993	Punjab's Biggest encounter done in village Chhichhrewal Tehsil Batala, 11 terrorists were encountered	[62]
1 March 1993	Gurbachan Singh Manochahal, the leader of Bhindranwale Tiger Force of Khalistan is killed by the police.	[63][64]
3 September 1995	CM Beant Singh killed in bomb blast	[65]
28 July 2001	The Army and district administration recover more than 1100 live bombs, a rocket and shells from steel scrap in Ludhiana in a joint operation over two days.	[66]
31 July 2001	Two boxes containing explosives were recovered from Khilchi village, Ferozepur district near the India-Pakistan border.	[66]
August 12, 2001	Punjab Police recover more than 120 live bombs on the outskirts of Mandi Gobindgarh town.	[66]
31 January 2002	Two persons are killed and 12 injured in an explosion inside a Punjab Roadways bus at Patrana, Hoshiarpur district.	[67]
14 October 2007	Seven persons, including a 10-year-old child, were killed and 40 injured in a bomb blast in a cinema hall in Ludhiana.	[68]
24 May 2009	Vienna temple attack
18 January 2010	A bomb was discovered along the Bhiwanigarh-Nabha highway outside Indian Oil's LPG bottling plant in Nabha, Patiala district.	[69]
13 October 2011	Five kg of RDX and 5 detonators were recovered from a car outside Ambala Cantt Railway Station. Two timers were found in the cavity of the power window buttons.	[70]
15 September 2013	Punjab Police busted a sleeper cell of KLF that had planned to target several Shiv Sena leaders. They arrested three militants named Sukhjinder Singh, Narinder Pal and Surinder Singh in Gurdaspur district.	[71]
2016	The Dashmesh Regiment jathebandi group has claimed responsibility for two of the killings in the 2016–17 Targeted killings in Punjab, India.	[72][73]
September 2019	The police busted a terror module of the Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF), backed by some persons based in Pakistan and Germany. Four KZF terrorists, Balwant Singh alias Nihang, Akashdeep Singh alias Akash Randhawa, Harbhajan Singh and Balbir Singh were arrested. KZF terrorists also burned a drone sent from Pakistan to drop arms and ammunition into Punjab after it failed to fly back.	[74]
July 2020	The Indian Government blocked 40 websites linked to the banned pro-Khalistan group Sikhs for Justice being used to propagate an anti-India sentiment across the world and for enticing Sikh youth to join militancy.	[75]

See also

List of terrorist incidents in Punjab (India)

References

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