From: sunder@grusin.crhc.uiuc.edu (Srinivas Sunder)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
Subject: Sikh Terrorists now attacking Christians
Date: 25 Jan 1993 20:07:34 GMT
Organization: Center for Reliable and High-Performance Computing, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: grusin.crhc.uiuc.edu

A UPI Noos report says that Sikh terrorists are now targeting the tiny
Christian community in Punjab, molesting nuns and damaging churches.
The most brutal attack was on Friday when a gang of 6 men armed with 
iron rods damaged sacred vessels and molested two nuns and a maid in a 
church in a small town called Baddalthua, according to Bishop Gilbert Rego.
rego, based in Chandigarh, believes that the attacks were motivated to
drive out Christians from Punjab.

One nun has been hospitalized in New Delhi with severe head injuries. The 
second nun and maid have also been hospitalized.

India Today also reports incidences of Sikh village women being abducted and
raped by Sikh militants, in some cases, being forced to marry the militants.
Also, on Monday, terrorist Pargat Singh arrested in Punjab. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Also, S.S. Mann alleges that the four Sikhs arrested for trying to bomb a
building on 26th Jan. were "framed" by the Indian Govt. 

[How does he know when they are framed and when not? Is he a kingpin of
sorts with full inside knowledge of what the terrorists are up to at any
given instant? Someone ought to ask him.]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

John Major, in India for the Republic Day celebrations, said in a DD interview,
that he doesn't think that his life would be under any danger in Delhi. Also
said that Britain would try and be a friend to both parties in the Kashmir
dispute, and that it is a purely internal matter (that's a victory for India).

The day Major leaves, Yeltsin arrives; to be followed by Felipe Gonzalez
(Spanish PM), and then by Helmut Kohl. [PVNR is trying to bolster his foreign
policy credentials in the face of domestic bungling, no doubt. The last 
politician who had a good foreign-policy record but was bad on domestic policy
went on to lose his elections (George Bush). What does PVNR think will happen
to him if the budget fails to pass and he has to call mid-term elections?]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To take the long view, the attacks on nuns is a sign that things are "better"
in Punjab. If the terrorists are now going after Christians, it can mean only
one thing: They are frustrated as hell, and in order to satiate their bloodlust,
they are now going up against the most defenseless of minorities - the Catholic
nuns. If they are frustrated, they must be getting hammered by the Army/Police.
Given the Catholic nuns and churches are the **most** harmless targets around,
they must be in dire straits. Who next? Any Parsees in Punjab? Buddhists? 

And now, if they are also molesting Sikh village-women to boot, any public
sympathy for them will also disappear in a flash. They seem to be digging 
their own graves. Now, a sustained offensive on two fronts - as protector
of the poor and as nemesis of the terrorists, the Govt. can completely pull
the rug out from under the Khalistanis. Let's see if the Govt. can rise to
the occasion instead of letting another opportunity pass them by.

Of course, ideally speaking, the only way to completely win over most of the
Sikhs is by putting the SOB's behind the 1984 riots in Death Row, but then we
can't hope for too much from a Govt. which has less spine than an invertebrate.

-- 
Srinivas Sunder                                         sunder@crhc.uiuc.edu

If my employer shares these views, I'd be most surprised.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian