NEW DELHI,— Thurs. Indian security forces rounded. up nearly 300 Sikh extremist suspects today in a race against time to break the back of the extremist movement before elections in Punjab State. Security chiefs, on the defensive after the murder yesterday of Arjun Dass, a top political supporter of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, Also announced…
Chaitanya Kalbag New Delhi (Reuter)—Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s peace pact to end three years of sectarian turmoil in Punjab has won wide support but analysts say he still faces obstacles in curbing Sikh unrest. Gandhi, a former airline pilot with five years in politics and eight months in power, confounded critics Wednesday by defusing…
New Delhi—For the grey-bearded Sikh sitting in a cosy academic study India’s Punjab crisis is no longer a series of grim newspaper headlines. Last week he had to abandon plans to drive through his home state because he feared attacks by angry crowds of Hindu militants roaming the highways. As communal violence continues in Punjab…
Chaitanya Kalbag The traffic noise from the flyover outside the window was deafening and I could barely hear what Baljit Singh Brar was saying. Brar edits Jalandhar’s Aaj Di Awaz newspaper, aptly named, amid the din. “Where is Bhindranwale’s son?” I had to shout. He pointed at the man sitting quietly at the corner of…
Chaitanya Kalbag CHAMKAUR SAHIB, India, Nov 23, Reuter – Long before Bimal Kaur Khalsa’s motorcade churns into dusty view across the Punjab countryside, the waiting crowds are chanting militant Sikh slogans. Khalsa, widow of one of prime minister Indira Gandhi’s assassins, has come to symbolise the anger and alienation that have plunged the north Indian…
Chaitanya Kalbag CHANDIGARH, India, Nov 26, Reuters – India’s bloody general election entered its final stage on Sunday with an exit poll from earlier voting predicting that Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi faces major losses. The survey, conducted by the independent India Today magazine, forecast neither Gandhi nor the opposition National Front alliance would get a…