Amritsar: Twenty-five years ago, the Indian Army concluded Operation Blue Star at Golden Temple in Amritsar killing Jarnail Singh Bhinderawale and his armed followers.
The Sikh community has now moved forward, but is yet to forget the operation in which artillery was used, causing extensive damage to the temple building.
Every year on June 6, Sat Pal Singh travels more than 300 km from his village in Sangrur to visit the Golden temple on the anniversary of Operation Blue star.
His hero is Jarnail Singh Bhinderawale who fought the Indian army from inside the Golden Temple. Time has healed the wounds, but Sikhs will never forget Operation Blue Star.
"Operation Blue Star was a very sad thing for Sikhs," said Sat Pal.
Retired Major General J S Jamwal, the then Commander of the 15 Infantry Division, also believes that the damage could have been minimised.
"They could have planned better. We could have done better by cutting supplies," he said.
Though Operation Blue Star led to a lot of anger and insurgency in Punjab during the 1980s and 1990s, there are just a few hardliners now who are still trying to generate momentum for the Khalistan movement.
And they admit they have very little support.
"It is good for the community to remember the past and to keep alive those memories and side by side they must go on for the future of the community," said Kanwar Pal Singh, member of Dal Khasla.
"We can't say everything is fine. Political parties do scratch old wounds for the sake of votes," said Narinder Pal Singh, a Sikh writer.
Over the years Golden Temple has regained its lost glory, but Sikhs are still asking the same question -- wasn't there a way to avoid Operation Blue Star?