In early June 1984 the Indian Army invaded one of the most historic of all Sikh Gurdwaras, the Darbar Sahib complex at Amritsar Punjab to flush out Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale a Sikh leader and his followers who had made the Gurdwara complex their refuge. The ensuing destruction and loss of life marked one of the darkest chapters of the later 20th century for Sikhs.