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==Destruction==
According to the [[Indian Army]] white paper on [[Operation Blue Star]], the library was destroyed on the night of June 5, 1984 in the midst of a firefight.<ref name="ensaaf_twenty_2006">{{cite book|last1=Kaur|first1=Jaskaran|last2=Crossette|first2=Barbara|title=Twenty years of impunity: the November 1984 pogroms of Sikhs in India |page=16 |url=http://ensaaf-org.jklaw.net/publications/reports/20years/20years-2nd.pdf|edition=2nd|year=2006|publisher=Ensaaf|___location=Portland, OR|isbn=0-9787073-0-3}}</ref> However, according to [[V. M. Tarkunde]], the library was still intact on June 6 when the Army had gained control of the [[Harmandir Sahib|Golden Temple]], and was in fact burned down by the army at some point between June 6 and June 14.<ref name="ensaaf_twenty_2006" /> Although the Indian Army has maintained that the library's contents were completely destroyed on June 5, the [[SGPC]] has contradicted their version of events. By using witness accounts, the [[SGPC]] has alleged that material from the library was taken in [[gunny sack]]s on military truck to Amritsar's Youth Club, a temporary office of the [[Central Bureau of Investigation]], and the empty library was burned by the army afterwards.<ref name="tribune_fire_2003" /> At that ___location, the [[Central Bureau of Investigation|CBI]] catalogued the materials until September 1984, when in light of a Sikh convention being held in the city, the library's contents were moved to an undisclosed ___location.
==Coverup==
In 2003, Ranjit Nanda, a former inspector for the [[Central Bureau of Investigation|CBI]], turned [[whistleblower]] and revealed he was part of a five member team which scrutinized the documents at the [[Central Bureau of Investigation|CBI]]'s makeshift office at Amritsar's Youth Club.<ref name="tribune_fire_2003" /> He revealed that officials from his department were "desperately looking for a purported letter written by [[Indira Gandhi]], the then Prime Minister, to [[Jarnail Singh Bhinderanwale]]", and reported seeing letters from the other leaders addressed to Jarnail Singh Bhinderanwale.<ref name="tribune_fire_2003" /> Manjit Calcutta, a former secretary of the [[SGPC]], corroborated Nanda's version of events but further alleged that the army set the library "on fire in desperation when it failed to find the letter".<ref name="tribune_fire_2003" /> Nanda further confirmed the [[SGPC]]'s version of events by describing how after inspecting each book and manuscript the [[Central Bureau of Investigation|CBI]] packed the documents into 165 numbered gunny sacks and bundled the material into waiting army vehicles because of a meeting of Sikh high priests taking place at the time.<ref name="tribune_fire_2003" /> He also showed a letter from his superiors commending his work "during examination of documents from SGPC ".<ref name="tribune_fire_2003" />
==Efforts to recover the material==
Since 1988, the [[SGPC]] has written to the [[Government of India|Central Government]] asking for the return of the material taken by the [[Central Bureau of Investigation|CBI]] but has only received minor office files.<ref name="express_2009_george">{{cite news|url=http://www.expressindia.com/ie/daily/20000525/ina25042.html|title=George Fernandes admits Army removed items from Golden Temple during Operation B|date=May 25, 2000|publisher=Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.|accessdate=21 February 2011|___location=Bombay}}</ref>
On May 23, 2000 [[George Fernandes]] wrote to the [[SGPC]] Secretary, Gurbachan Singh Bachan, and acknowledged that the [[Indian Army]] had taken the books and other documents from the Sikh Reference Library and handed them over to the [[Central Bureau of Investigation|CBI]].<ref name="express_2009_george" /> He asked him to refer the matter to the [[Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (India)|Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions]], whose jurisdiction the CBI falls under.<ref name="express_2009_george" />
In a visit to [[Jalandhar]], [[Punjab (India)|Punjab]] [[George Fernandes]] announced that the CBI had destroyed 117 "seditious" documents from the material taken from the Sikh Reference Library.<ref name="tribune_fire_2003" />
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