AMRITSAR SAHIB—On the 30th anniversary of June 1984 holocaust, the sacred city Sri Amritsar observed a complete shutdown (band) with no untoward incident reported except clashes between Sikhs and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) task force in Sri Darbar Sahib Complex. The call for shutdown the city was given by Panthik organization Dal Khalsa and its youth wing Sikh Youth of Punjab (SYP).
Residents of the city gave an enormous spontaneous response to the band with no special effort needed to ensure a successful shutdown. All shops, business offices and other commercial institutions remained closed the entire day with the exception of transportation facilities and educational institutes.
Amritsar police held leaders and activists of Dal Khalsa and SYP at Bhai Gurdas Hall in the morning and set them free in late evening. These leaders included Kanwar Pal Singh Bittu, Satnam Singh Paunta Sahib, and SYP chief Nobeljit Singh. It has been reported also that the Amritsar police arrested several Sikh youth who were holding a peaceful motor-cycle cavalcade and march in the city. The police move was primarily aimed at preventing Sikh activists from “enforcing” a shut-down in Amritsar, however the city complied, and observed a nearly complete shut-down, without any special effort of any Sikh organization.
