The events of June 1984 are etched in the memory of the Sikhs. The attack of the Indian armed forces on Darbar Sahib and 37 other Gurdwaras cannot be washed away from the annals of Indo-Sikh history. More than historians, journalists of various hues have attempted to write a perspective on the events of June 1984 and beyond. Barring a few honourable exceptions no effort has been made to conduct empirical studies of the event.

Sikhs as a nation have not responded to the half-baked, ill-written, factually incorrect and biased version of events as enlisted by the Indian state in the White Paper published by the government of India in June 1985.

To put the record straight and to present the Sikh point of view in proper perspective, Dal Khalsa has collected and recorded comprehensive details of the events of June 1984. The Directory of Martyrs, which gives personal details of all Sikh fighters who died while protecting the honour of Darbar Sahib and Akal Takht Sahib is the result of painstaking research over the years by Dal Khalsa activists.

This directory of the Indo-Sikh war of June 1984 released by the Dal Khalsa on June 9, 2006 at Amritsar, is perhaps the second whole-hearted attempt by any Sikh organisation to conduct a thorough empirical research into the attack by the Indian state on the Sikh people. The first attempt of a similar nature were the details gathered on the cremation of unidentified bodies case in Tarn Taran, Amritsar and other areas by Jaswant Singh Khalra and later by the Committee for Coordination of Disappearances in Punjab.

This directory is only the beginning. We are determined to write the story of each martyr -their role, commitment , dedication and determination, inspired by the martyrdom of the Fifth Master, Guru Arjan Sahib Ji.