Word: sikhs
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...November 1966, after savage rioting, the Punjab was split in two, creating a predominantly Hindu Haryana state and a Sikh-dominated Punjab state. Both communities demanded exclusive possession of the capital city. Premier Indira Gandhi promised to settle the matter as soon as the 1967 elections were out of the way, and in the meantime allowed Chandigarh to remain the capital of both states...
Nasser was right. Trouble started soon after the delegates invited India, whose Moslem minority of 60 million gives it the world's third largest Islamic population (after Indonesia's 100 million and Pakistan's 90 million). Next day the Indian Ambassador to Morocco, a gray-bearded Sikh sporting an elegant white turban, joined the Congress. He was, of course, not a Moslem, and it was as if W. C. Fields had shuffled into a W.C.T.U rally. Sputtered a Pakistani journalist: "If India can come, there could be an Islamic summit next year to which Israel could...
...unite, no single group emerged with enough strength to form a government. As a result, the Congress Party, which ended up 42 seats short of a majority, is attempting to organize a government by lining up the support of independent legislators. But in the northern state of Punjab, the Sikh communalist party, the Akali Dal, entered into a working arrangement with the Hindu Jana Sangh Party that will enable the two parties to form a coalition government...
...direct "President's rule" and ordered new elections to be held after a one-year cooling-off period. Though two religious parties managed to form a fairly strong coalition in the Punjab, the Congress Party successfully brought down the coalition by offering to throw its support to a Sikh minister if he would form a rival government...
...proposals fell far short of the Sikh goals, and cynics among the Sant's followers noted that he had seemed overly eager to escape martyrdom. The whole deal, they suggested, was prearranged. But whether it was or not, Indira was clearly the winner. Lately she has been showing a tendency to buckle under public protest involving everything from cow slaughter to government control of gold merchants. This time she showed that she can also stand firm-at least until after next month's elections...