Golden Temple, Amritsar

The center of Sikh resistance was also the religion's holiest shrine, the Golden Temple at Amritsar. On June 2, 1984, the temple was sealed off by Indian troops, who then occupied the shrine, killing hundreds of Sikhs and seizing caches of ammunition. The troops withdrew by the end of the month, but outrage among Sikh nationalists persisted. On October 31 Indira Gandhi was shot and killed by Sikh members of her personal guard. In the days of rioting that followed, at least 1000 Sikhs were killed by Hindu mobs. Rajiv Gandhi was sworn in as prime minister hours after his mother's death.

Influenced by the devotional emphasis of bhakti Hinduism and Sufi Islam, Sikhism stresses the unity, truth, and creativity of a personal God and urges union with him through meditation on his title, the Name (Nam), and surrender to his will. It also advocates active service rather than the Hindu ideal of ascetic withdrawal. Loyalty and justice are admired, smoking and intoxicants forbidden. Sikhism also rejects the Hindu caste system, priesthood, image worship, and pilgrimage, although it retains the Hindu doctrines of transmigration and karma. The ultimate spiritual authority is the Adi Granth, consisting of hymns by the ten Sikh gurus (Hindi, “teachers”) and Hindu and Muslim devotional poetry in several languages. All Sikhs may read the Adi Granth, which is the focus of devotion at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the Sikh religious center.

History

Nanak, the saintly first guru, wandered over India seeking converts. He was succeeded by nine gurus whose office became hereditary. The fourth, Ram Das, founded the Golden Temple. The fifth, Arjun compiled the Adi Granth in 1604. As the Sikhs became a distinct religious community, they took up arms against persecution by Hindus and by Muslim rulers of the Mughal Empire. Oppo Mughal tyranny, the tenth guru, Gobind Singh, formed the Khalsa in 1699. During the decline of the Mughals, the Sikhs, led by the warrior Ranjit Singh, created a powerful state in the Punjab about 1800 that eventually threatened British-controlled India. After internal dissension and two wars the Punjab was annexed by the British in 1849.

The British governed the Sikhs fairly and, in return for their loyalty during the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, gave them preferential land grants. The Sikhs gained wealth and a great reputation as soldiers and policemen. Upon independence in 1947, they lost their privileges and found their state divided between India and Pakistan. After a bitter war against the Muslims in 1965, the Pakistani Sikhs migrated to India. In response to years of agitation, the Indian government created Punjab as a single Punjabi-speaking state in 1966; it remains the home of most of India's more than 16 million Sikhs. Terrorism by Sikh separatists demanding greater autonomy led the Indian government in June 1984 to send in troops to seize the Golden Temple from Sikh extremists, who vowed to avenge the violence. Sikh members of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's personal guard were implicated in her assassination on October 31. In 1985 an accord was finally reached with the Indian government on expanding Punjab. Sikh terrorists then stepped up their activities, demanding the establishment of a Sikh state, Khalistan. In 1992 the government sent in police and army reinforcements and reestablished its authority in Punjab.