Word: sikhs
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Storm, calm and storm again. Angered by what they consider discrimination against then" religion, 100,000 militant Sikhs prepared last week to burn copies of Article 25 of the Indian constitution, which they complained fails to recognize their special place in the nation. Then the government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi announced it would consider amending Article 25, and the constitution burning was called off. But just when the situation seemed to be cooling, the violence that has plagued the Punjab for 18 months exploded ferociously. Early last week Sikh extremists lobbed hand grenades into a religious house near their...
Ever since India's independence in 1947, the Sikhs claim, they have faced discrimination. Before then they had enjoyed preferential treatment in the armed forces and civil services, and were given special representation in elected bodies. With independence, those privileges were lost, and the Sikhs became politically subservient to the Hindu majority. Soon they began agitating for their own state. In 1966 they were given Punjab by the federal government. Although that state has India's richest, most fertile land, the Sikhs still felt their portion was too small compared with that of neighboring Haryana, the state created...
...years ago, an extreme right-wing Sikh faction emerged, thus turning the protest aggressive and radical. Its fanatical leader, Sant Jarnail Bhindranwale, 36, now commands at least 1,000 armed followers from the most sacred room of the Golden Temple. Hindus have begun to fear that the demands of the more heavily armed Sikhs will be met as Bhindranwale's movement gains momentum. Even when Gandhi assured them that they would not be let down, Hindus organized to combat the Sikh threat...
...February Hindus in Haryana staged then-most violent assaults yet. A mob of 5,000 quickly grew to 8,000, attacking however many Sikhs they could find. In one instance half a dozen Sikh prisoners were held immobile and their beards and hair shorn as Hindus hooted and yelled. "There goes your hair power," cried out one Hindu demonstration leader, referring to the Sikh belief that spiritual power derives from long hair. Their heads shaved to the scalp, faces no longer covered with luxuriant beards, Sikhs lay in the street, blasphemed, humiliated and scorned. Last week, in an atmosphere...
Gandhi first moved forces in to surround the Golden Temple in early March, in an attempt to isolate Bhindranwale and stop Sikh provocations. It is unlikely, however, that Gandhi would decide to move them inside. By doing so, she would risk committing a sacrilege that all Sikhs, moderate and radical, would find intolerable. Since Sikhs make up 25% of the armed forces and hold key command positions, Gandhi does not wish to provoke them any more than necessary. Last weekend, in a bold bid for reconciliation, she established a committee to draft an amendment to the constitution that would define...