Page 121 - Islam and Far Eastern Religions

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nity and every Sikh has the portraits of them in his home. Devotion to
these gurus is considered elementary to the Sikh faith.

The name Sikh became widely known in the world with the attacks
carried out across India by Sikh militants. At present, Sikhs are in a state
of conflict with Hindus as well as Muslims. Thousands of Muslims have
lost their lives over the years at the hands of Sikh militants in Kashmir,
but the loss of life in their conflict with Hindus is even greater.
When in 1947 Pakistan broke away from India, the Sikhs were very

influential in Pencab, but with the division of the country, they were dis-
persed to various parts of the country. As a consequence, they lost their
military and political power. Between 1941 and 1951 200,000 Sikhs were
forcibly converted to Hinduism in an assimilation campaign which trig-
gered the ongoing conflict between Hindus and Sikhs. The Sikhs are
known to be a more proactive, aggressive and uncompromising people
compared to other societies on the Indian subcontinent and “support”
their demand for independence with violence, arson and occasional acts

of terrorism. The conflict escalated further when in 1984 Hindus invad-
ed the Amritsar Temple, a holy site of the Sikh faith, and killed between
450 and 1,200 Sikh militants in an armed conflict that lasted four days
and nights. The Sikhs responded soon after by having the late Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi, who had ordered the assault on the temple,
killed by her two Sikh body guards. The Hindu regime then began a
wide-ranging operation against the Sikhs. Official figures put the Sikh

casualties at 2,700, but according to Human rights organizations and the
media, the death toll was likely between 10,000 and 17,000. 36 Sikh mili-
tants went on the counter attack by assassinating prominent Hindus as
well as moderate Sikh leaders who opposed their policies. Since 1984,
30,000 people have been killed in the conflict between Sikhs and Hindus.

Harun Yahya (Adnan Oktar)