Clashes break out between sword-wielding Sikhs at the Golden Temple in northern India on the 30th anniversary of a notorious army raid in which hundreds of people were killed. Duration: 01:25'''
Violent clash erupts as Sikhs mark storming of Golden Temple
Fight breaks out between rival groups over who would speak first at ceremony
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NEW DELHI — Sikhs wielding swords and sticks clashed inside the compound of their religion’s holiest shrine yesterday, the 30th anniversary of a controversial raid by Indian security forces that flushed out separatist militants holed up in the temple.
Televisions showed dramatic footage of rival groups of Sikhs, sporting blue and saffron turbans, rushing out of the Golden Temple in Amritsar in northern India, brandishing their swords against each other in a violent confrontation in which at least 10 people were injured.
The clash occurred during a ceremony marking the anniversary of the storming of the shrine by the Indian army in June 1984, said Ms Kiran Jyoti Kaur, a spokeswoman for the Golden Temple management.
Hundreds of Sikhs had gathered at the Golden Temple in Punjab state to pay their respects.
Ms Kaur said supporters of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), a splinter group of the governing Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) party, turned violent and were chased away by temple guards. They were shouting slogans for an independent Sikh homeland, she added.
Reports said the fight was over who would speak first at the ceremony and that a scuffle had broken out over a microphone.
Mr Naresh Gujral, a leader of the governing SAD in Punjab state, condemned the clash.
The CNN-IBN television channel said the police detained nearly 50 people and that many shops closed because of the tension.
“The violent clashes will be investigated and action will be taken against those who are accused,” said Mr Giani Gurbachan Singh, a leader of the elected body that manages Sikh temples.
The 1984 Indian army operation to establish control over the Golden Temple, Operation Blue Star, was ordered by then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. It was one of the most contentious episodes in the country’s battle against Sikh separatists in the 1980s.
