On April 29, 1986, a five-member Panthic Committee held deliberations in the Golden Temple, Amritsar, and announced the independence of Khalistan, a Sikh breakaway state, from India. The events of that day set in motion Operation Black Thunder I in the subsequent days, which flushed out the separatist leaders and militants ensconced in the Golden Temple precincts. Two years earlier, the Army stormed the Golden Temple to carry out a similar exercise in June 1984 against Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers. The memories of that operation and its fallout were still fresh in the minds of the security and administrative establishments, and hence, Operation Black Thunder I was significantly lower in scale and violence compared to Operation Blue Star in 1984. Also, unlike Operation Blue Star, there was no direct involvement of the Army in Black Thunder 1.…