Word: punjab
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi won an election victory in the strife-torn state of Punjab last week, even though his Congress (I) Party failed to come out first in the balloting. Gandhi triumphed because a near record 60% of eligible voters defied the threat of terrorism to cast ballots for state and national candidates. Sikhs form a majority in Punjab, a state in which a small band of Sikh militants has pursued a violent campaign for independence since 1981. At stake in the election were 115 state assembly seats and 13 slots in the lower house of the Indian Parliament...
...bodyguards fired back at the assailants, another young man sprang forward and pumped more bullets into the fallen Sikh leader. Longowal was rushed to the hospital. That evening he died without regaining consciousness, yet another victim of the violence that has claimed some 4,000 lives in Punjab over the past three years...
Once again, the country was in shock over an assassination. In an emotional message to the nation, Gandhi, whose mother, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was gunned down by two Sikh bodyguards last October, called Longowal's slaying "a tragedy not just for Punjab but for the whole country. A man of peace has fallen to the bullets of assassins," he said. The next day Longowal was cremated in his native village with full state honors. The funeral procession included mourners from every faith and high government officials. Conspicuously absent were members of the radical faction of the Akali...
...major setback to the impressive start that had been made in mending relations between the Sikh community and the central government, which had been severely strained even before the army assault on the Golden Temple in Amritsar last year. In the month since the settlement was signed, Punjab had been unusually quiet, giving Gandhi the confidence to announce elections for Sept. 22. After Longowal's death, Gandhi changed the date to Sept. 25 to allow for the mourning period. The elections will be the first in five years and will end nearly two years of direct rule of Punjab from...
Longowal's murder by terrorists, two of whom were captured, appeared to be part of a new campaign of violence. On the same day that he was shot, gunmen in Punjab killed a local Hindu leader of the ruling Congress (I) Party. The next day, terrorists shot and wounded a government official in the state. The prospects for peace in Punjab now hinge on whether moderates in the Akali Dal will close ranks against the extremists. Many Sikhs are weary of the violence that has disrupted their lives and would welcome as Longowal's successor someone who can bring them...