03/06/2026
Day 3 — 3 June 1984
June 3 was the Shaheedi Gurpurab of Guru Arjan Dev Ji — the fifth Guru, the first Sikh martyr, who gave his life in 1606 rather than abandon his faith. One of the holiest days in the Sikh calendar. Thousands had travelled to Darbar Sahib to pay their respects.
By nightfall, the gates were sealed. A 36-hour curfew, no power, no phones. On the very day Sikhs gathered to remember a Guru who died for his faith, the army surrounded the place of his devotion.
Inside was Major General Shabeg Singh — one of India’s most decorated officers, the man who helped liberate Bangladesh in 1971. The state had dismissed him on charges he was later cleared of. When the call came, he chose to defend the Panth’s holiest place.
And when the tanks would later roll toward Darbar Sahib, they passed Jallianwala Bagh, where the British massacred hundreds of unarmed Sikhs in 1919. 65 years on, the same ground, the same blood — only this time it was the state’s own army.
History rhymed in the cruellest way.
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