In the, 1970s and 1980s, the Sikh separatist movement emerged as a particularly virulent manifestation of the centuries old struggle of the Sikhs to preserve their distinct culture and religion in the Indian subcontinent. The roots of that struggle, its unequal nature and its course lie deeply embedded in the historical experience of this embattled minority and certain fundamental geographic, economic and demographic realities. During the latter stages of the rule of Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India from 1966 to 1984, a tragic and violent series of confrontations developed between the Sikhs and the dominant Hindu majority. They resulted from the trauma of the 1947 partition of India, the polarization of political and communal conflict in post-independence India and miscalculations and failures of leadership in both communities. The violence escalated in the period which followed Gandhi's assassination in 1984 to near civil war proportions. The movement was suppressed with great difficulty by the central government over the following decade. The ultimate outcome of that struggle will depend on many factors, the most important of which is whether the modernization and economic and political development of India will facilitate the eventual accommodation of Sikh and Hindu differences. The history of the past 50 years is not encouraging.
Until the events of the past 30 years, the Sikh and Hindu communities of northern India lived together in relative amity. The forces which drove them into a conflict of deepening intensity in the late 1970s and 1980s threaten their ability to co-exist in peace, which has important implications not only for them but also for the political stability and economic progress of India. This essay traces the historical origins of that conflict, explores the reasons why it intensified in the second half of the 20th century and comments briefly on its likely evolution in the future.
The Sikhs...