VIDEO: Huge sword fight breaks out between Sikhs at Golden Temple in Amritsar

 
Clashes: A sword fight broke out at India's Golden Temple (Picture: EPA)
Kiran Randhawa6 June 2014

At least six people were wounded today as members of a Sikh group brandishing swords spears and sticks clashed with guards at the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

The violence broke out during a ceremony to mark the 30th anniversary of the storming of the temple, Sikhism’s holiest shrine, by the Indian army in June 1984.

A spokeswoman for the Golden Temple said supporters of the Shiromani Akali Dal party, led by Simranjit Singh Mann, turned violent and were chased away by guards. They were shouting slogans for an independent homeland for the Sikhs.

The CNN-IBN television channel said police detained nearly 50 people. Naresh Gujral, a leader of the governing Akali Dal group in the state, condemned the violence.

The army’s raid on the shrine was one of the most contentious episodes in India’s battle against Sikh separatists. Estimates of the death toll are as high as 1,000.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in