India, April 28 -- April 29, 1986, was a defining day in the volcanic decade of the '80s in Punjab.

After the death of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a five-member Panthic Committee, an underground militants' executive body, was formed by the Sarbat Khalsa in 1986. On April 29 that year, this committee held a press conference in the Golden Temple precincts, and proclaimed the formation of a sovereign state of Khalistan. The committee notified the formation of its armed force - the Khalistan Commando Force - for Sikh struggle. It appealed to the United Nations and foreign countries to recognise the new state.

Bhindranwale had refrained from recognising Khalistan. For, he was conscious that it had no popular base among Sikhs. However, he did...