Sikh Reference Library
Encyclopedia
The Sikh Reference Library was a repository of over 1,500 rare manuscripts located in the Golden Temple at Amritsar
, Punjab
which was destroyed during Operation Blue Star
. In 1984, the library's contents were confiscated by the Central Bureau of Investigation
and the empty building allegedly burned to the ground by the Indian Army
. In recent years the SGPC has attempted to recover the looted material but has not yet recovered substantial materials. To date, the status of library manuscripts and artifacts is unclear; the vast majority remain in the hands of the government, a few office files and passports were returned, and as many as 117 items were destroyed for being "seditious" materials.
dated October 27, 1946. The library had its roots in a meeting of the Sikh Historical Society under the presidentship of Princess Bamba on February 10, 1945 at Khalsa College, Amritsar
which established the Central Sikh library.The Central Sikh library was then folded into the Sikh Reference Library.
and Hukmnamas containing signatures of Sikh Gurus
. The library also held documents related to the Indian Independence Movement
.
white paper on Operation Bluestar, the library was destroyed on the night of June 5, 1984 in the midst of a firefight. However, according to V. M. Tarkunde
, the library was still intact on June 6 when the Army had gained control of the Golden Temple, and was in fact burned down by the army at some point between June 6 and June 14. Although the Indian Army has maintained that the library's contents were completely destroyed on June 5, the SGPC has contradicted their version of events. By using witness accounts, the SGPC has alleged that material from the library was taken in gunny sack
s on military truck to Amritsar's Youth Club, a temporary office of the Central Bureau of Investigation
, and the empty library was burned by the army afterwards. At that location, the CBI
catalogued the materials until September of 1984, when in light of a Sikh convention being held in the city, the library's contents were moved to an undisclosed location.
, turned whistleblower
and revealed he was part of a five member team which scrutinized the documents at the CBI
's makeshift office at Amritsar's Youth Club. He revealed that officials from his department were "desperately looking for a purported letter written by Indira Gandhi
, the then Prime Minister, to Jarnail Singh Bhinderanwale", and reported seeing letters from the other leaders addressed to Jarnail Singh Bhinderanwale . Manjit Calcutta, a former secretary of the SGPC, corroborated Nanda's version of events but further alleged that the army set the library "on fire in desperation when it failed to find the letter". Nanda further confirmed the SGPC's version of events by describing how after inspecting each book and manuscript the CBI
packed the documents into 165 numbered gunny sacks and bundled the material into waiting army vehicles because of a meeting of Sikh high priests taking place at the time. He also showed a letter from his superiors commending his work "during examination of documents from SGPC ".
asking for the return of the material taken by the CBI
but has only received minor office files.
On May 23, 2000 George Fernandes
wrote to the SGPC Secretary, Gurbachan Singh Bachan, and acknowledged that the Indian Army
had taken taken the books and other documents from the Sikh Reference Library and handed them over to the CBI
. He asked him to refer the matter to the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
, whose jurisdiction the CBI falls under.
In a visit to Jalandhar
, Punjab
George Fernandes
announced that the CBI had destroyed 117 "seditious" documents from the material taken from the Sikh Reference Library.
On March 25, 2003, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam made assurances that the books, documents, and manuscripts would be returned, however he took no further action.
In April 26, 2004, the Punjab and Haryana High Court
ordered the Central Government
, Government of Punjab
, and the CBI
to return the "valuables, books, scriptures, paintings, etc, that were seized from the Golden Temple during “Operation Bluestar” in 1984".
In February and May of 2009, A. K. Antony
, defense minister of India, claimed in parliament that the Indian Army no longer had any material taken from the library. Various members of parliament and the SGPC criticized him for "misleading parliament".
Amritsar
Amritsar is a city in the northern part of India and is the administrative headquarters of Amritsar district in the state of Punjab, India. The 2001 Indian census reported the population of the city to be over 1,500,000, with that of the entire district numbering 3,695,077...
, Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
which was destroyed during Operation Blue Star
Operation Blue Star
Operation Blue Star ) 3– 6 June 1984 was an Indian military operation, ordered by Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India, to remove Sikh separatists from the Golden Temple in Amritsar...
. In 1984, the library's contents were confiscated by the Central Bureau of Investigation
Central Bureau of Investigation
The Central Bureau of Investigation is a government agency of India that serves as a criminal investigation body, national security agency and intelligence agency. It was established on 1 April 1963 and evolved from the Special Police Establishment founded in 1941...
and the empty building allegedly burned to the ground by the Indian Army
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...
. In recent years the SGPC has attempted to recover the looted material but has not yet recovered substantial materials. To date, the status of library manuscripts and artifacts is unclear; the vast majority remain in the hands of the government, a few office files and passports were returned, and as many as 117 items were destroyed for being "seditious" materials.
Origin
The Sikh Reference Library was established by the SGPC with a resolutionResolution (law)
A resolution is a written motion adopted by a deliberative body. The substance of the resolution can be anything that can normally be proposed as a motion. For long or important motions, though, it is often better to have them written out so that discussion is easier or so that it can be...
dated October 27, 1946. The library had its roots in a meeting of the Sikh Historical Society under the presidentship of Princess Bamba on February 10, 1945 at Khalsa College, Amritsar
Khalsa College, Amritsar
Khalsa College is a historic educational institution in the northern Indian city of Amritsar in the state of Punjab, India. Founded in 1892, the sprawling campus is located about eight km outside of the city center on the Amritsar-Lahore highway , adjoining Guru Nanak Dev University campus, to...
which established the Central Sikh library.The Central Sikh library was then folded into the Sikh Reference Library.
Historical materials
Before its destruction, the library contained rare books and manuscripts on Sikh religion, history, and culture. It also contained handwritten manuscripts of the Guru Granth SahibGuru Granth Sahib
Sri Guru Granth Sahib , or Adi Granth, is the religious text of Sikhism. It is the final and eternal guru of the Sikhs. It is a voluminous text of 1430 angs, compiled and composed during the period of Sikh gurus, from 1469 to 1708...
and Hukmnamas containing signatures of Sikh Gurus
Sikh Gurus
The Sikh Gurus established Sikhism from over the centuries beginning in the year 1469. Sikhism was founded by the first guru, Guru Nanak, and subsequently, all in order were referred to as "Nanak", and as "Lights", making their teachings in the holy scriptures, equivalent...
. The library also held documents related to the Indian Independence Movement
Indian independence movement
The term Indian independence movement encompasses a wide area of political organisations, philosophies, and movements which had the common aim of ending first British East India Company rule, and then British imperial authority, in parts of South Asia...
.
Destruction
According to the Indian ArmyIndian Army
The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...
white paper on Operation Bluestar, the library was destroyed on the night of June 5, 1984 in the midst of a firefight. However, according to V. M. Tarkunde
V. M. Tarkunde
Vithal Mahadeo Tarkunde also popularly known as Justice V.M.Tarkunde was a prominent Indian lawyer, civil rights activist, and humanist leader and has been referred to as the "Father of the Civil Liberties movement" in India...
, the library was still intact on June 6 when the Army had gained control of the Golden Temple, and was in fact burned down by the army at some point between June 6 and June 14. Although the Indian Army has maintained that the library's contents were completely destroyed on June 5, the SGPC has contradicted their version of events. By using witness accounts, the SGPC has alleged that material from the library was taken in gunny sack
Gunny sack
A gunny sack is an inexpensive bag made of burlap, also known as a 'gunny shoe'. Gunny sacks are traditionally used for transporting grains, potatoes, and other agricultural products. Today they are also sometimes used as sandbags for erosion control. They are usually made from jute or other...
s on military truck to Amritsar's Youth Club, a temporary office of the Central Bureau of Investigation
Central Bureau of Investigation
The Central Bureau of Investigation is a government agency of India that serves as a criminal investigation body, national security agency and intelligence agency. It was established on 1 April 1963 and evolved from the Special Police Establishment founded in 1941...
, and the empty library was burned by the army afterwards. At that location, the CBI
Central Bureau of Investigation
The Central Bureau of Investigation is a government agency of India that serves as a criminal investigation body, national security agency and intelligence agency. It was established on 1 April 1963 and evolved from the Special Police Establishment founded in 1941...
catalogued the materials until September of 1984, when in light of a Sikh convention being held in the city, the library's contents were moved to an undisclosed location.
Coverup
In 2003, Ranjit Nanda, a former inspector for the CBICentral Bureau of Investigation
The Central Bureau of Investigation is a government agency of India that serves as a criminal investigation body, national security agency and intelligence agency. It was established on 1 April 1963 and evolved from the Special Police Establishment founded in 1941...
, turned whistleblower
Whistleblower
A whistleblower is a person who tells the public or someone in authority about alleged dishonest or illegal activities occurring in a government department, a public or private organization, or a company...
and revealed he was part of a five member team which scrutinized the documents at the CBI
Central Bureau of Investigation
The Central Bureau of Investigation is a government agency of India that serves as a criminal investigation body, national security agency and intelligence agency. It was established on 1 April 1963 and evolved from the Special Police Establishment founded in 1941...
's makeshift office at Amritsar's Youth Club. He revealed that officials from his department were "desperately looking for a purported letter written by Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
, the then Prime Minister, to Jarnail Singh Bhinderanwale", and reported seeing letters from the other leaders addressed to Jarnail Singh Bhinderanwale . Manjit Calcutta, a former secretary of the SGPC, corroborated Nanda's version of events but further alleged that the army set the library "on fire in desperation when it failed to find the letter". Nanda further confirmed the SGPC's version of events by describing how after inspecting each book and manuscript the CBI
Central Bureau of Investigation
The Central Bureau of Investigation is a government agency of India that serves as a criminal investigation body, national security agency and intelligence agency. It was established on 1 April 1963 and evolved from the Special Police Establishment founded in 1941...
packed the documents into 165 numbered gunny sacks and bundled the material into waiting army vehicles because of a meeting of Sikh high priests taking place at the time. He also showed a letter from his superiors commending his work "during examination of documents from SGPC ".
Efforts to recover the material
Since 1988, the SGPC has written to the Central GovernmentGovernment of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
asking for the return of the material taken by the CBI
Central Bureau of Investigation
The Central Bureau of Investigation is a government agency of India that serves as a criminal investigation body, national security agency and intelligence agency. It was established on 1 April 1963 and evolved from the Special Police Establishment founded in 1941...
but has only received minor office files.
On May 23, 2000 George Fernandes
George Fernandes
George Mathew Fernandes is an Indian trade unionist, politician, journalist, agriculturist, and member of Rajya Sabha from Bihar. He is a key member of the Janata Dal , and was the founder of the Samata Party...
wrote to the SGPC Secretary, Gurbachan Singh Bachan, and acknowledged that the Indian Army
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...
had taken taken the books and other documents from the Sikh Reference Library and handed them over to the CBI
Central Bureau of Investigation
The Central Bureau of Investigation is a government agency of India that serves as a criminal investigation body, national security agency and intelligence agency. It was established on 1 April 1963 and evolved from the Special Police Establishment founded in 1941...
. He asked him to refer the matter to the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (India)
The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions is the Union Govt. ministry for personnel matters including the recruitment, career development, training, staff welfare and post employment dispensation. The ministry is under the overall charge of Prime Minister of India , who is assisted...
, whose jurisdiction the CBI falls under.
In a visit to Jalandhar
Jalandhar
Jalandhar is a city in Jalandhar District in the state of Punjab, India. It is located 144 km northwest of the state capital, Chandigarh...
, Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
George Fernandes
George Fernandes
George Mathew Fernandes is an Indian trade unionist, politician, journalist, agriculturist, and member of Rajya Sabha from Bihar. He is a key member of the Janata Dal , and was the founder of the Samata Party...
announced that the CBI had destroyed 117 "seditious" documents from the material taken from the Sikh Reference Library.
On March 25, 2003, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam made assurances that the books, documents, and manuscripts would be returned, however he took no further action.
In April 26, 2004, the Punjab and Haryana High Court
Punjab and Haryana High Court
Punjab and Haryana High Court is a common High Court for both the States of Punjab and Haryana and Union territory of Chandigarh, in India. It is situated at Chandigarh, the capital of the States of Punjab and Haryana. The sanctioned strenghth of this High Court is 68 judges consisting of Chief...
ordered the Central Government
Government of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
, Government of Punjab
Government of Punjab (India)
The Government of Punjab also known as the State Government of Punjab , or locally as State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Punjab and its 20 districts...
, and the CBI
Central Bureau of Investigation
The Central Bureau of Investigation is a government agency of India that serves as a criminal investigation body, national security agency and intelligence agency. It was established on 1 April 1963 and evolved from the Special Police Establishment founded in 1941...
to return the "valuables, books, scriptures, paintings, etc, that were seized from the Golden Temple during “Operation Bluestar” in 1984".
In February and May of 2009, A. K. Antony
A. K. Antony
Arackaparambil Kurien Antony is an Indian National Congress politician, a former Chief Minister of Kerala, and the current Defence Minister of India....
, defense minister of India, claimed in parliament that the Indian Army no longer had any material taken from the library. Various members of parliament and the SGPC criticized him for "misleading parliament".