Operation Blue Star anniversary: Pro-Khalistan slogans raised at Golden Temple | Watch

Slogans favouring Khalistan (sovereign state for Sikhs) were raised on Thursday in the premises of the Golden Temple complex in Punjab’s Amritsar during the 40th anniversary of ‘Operation Bluestar’, even as most of the commercial establishments and educational institutions remained closed in the city amid the call given for ‘Amritsar shutdown’ by radical Sikh outfits to commemorate the day.

Supporters and activists of radical Sikh outfit Dal Khalsa, Sikh hardliners led by radical Sikh leader and president of Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) Simranjit Singh Mann raised slogans of ‘Khalistan Zindabad’ during the congregation of Sikh devotees. Some youth were seen wearing outfits with photographs of slain separatist leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was killed in Canada last year as they hailed his sacrifice and vowed to continue their struggle for Khalistan.

It was on June 6, 1984, when the Army had stormed the complex of the Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) in Amritsar, Sikhism’s holiest shrine, to flush out extremists led by Bhindranwale.