16. Persecution of the Sikhs The Sikh religion originated in 15th century in the Punjab region of India. (Sikhs goal is the union of one’s soul with God. A Sikh disciplines his thoughts and actions so that the five obstacles — lust, anger, greed, attachment and ego — are dispelled and his soul is united with God. Sikhs believe that the cycle of reincarnation is escaped by this union.)
43. New Friends? Musharraf and India's new Prime Minister Manmohan Singh speak by telephone frequently affirming a strong desire for peace and resolution of their disputes, including Kashmir, on which the two countries have fought two of their three wars.
To be a citizen of a country means to live by a Constitution. This is a model constitution. It says: “We the people of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a sovereign democratic republic, and to secure to all its citizens: justice, liberty, equality, fraternity…..” It is, like other constitutions, grand, noble, idealistic, and, rightly, a model to follow, not a mirror of what exists. Thus, there is a hierarchy, but it is not a sanctioned hierarchy, and the Constitution is a means to practise equality.
Nehru met Gandhi in 1916 at the annual Indian National Congress convention. He participated in the nonviolent civil disobedience campaign and spent time in jail along with Gandhi. At independence, Nehru became the nation’s first prime minister and was continually reelected until his death in 1964. Nehru pushed modernization of the country, and industrialization of its economy.
India has had a "mixed economy" in which both private business and government invest in and direct the economy. Today, India has been moving away from state ownership and subsidies to business. India's government has established five-year plans to set economic goals. The Green Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s made great headway, but faltered due to most farmers' lack of money to buy hybrid seeds, fertilizers, and equipment. Imports still needed.
Indira Gandhi was Nehru’s daughter. She married a man named Gandhi who was no relation to the Mahatma. Indira continued industrialization, begun by her father. In 1975 Gandhi was convicted on two counts of corruption in the 1971 campaign. While appealing the decision, she declared a state of emergency, imprisoned her political opponents, and assumed emergency powers. Governing by decree, she imposed total press censorship and implemented a policy of large-scale sterilization as a form of birth control. When long-postponed national elections were held in 1977, Gandhi and her party were soundly defeated. Although very popular at the polls, she faced a great challenge in dealing with nationalist movements among minority groups, especially the Sikhs in Punjab state. The Sikhs sought independence of Punjab, and when they used terrorism, Indira struck back. The Golden Temple -- an extremely holy Sikh shrine at Amritsar was being used by the terrorists as a weapons storehouse and a sanctuary. Indira ordered a military raid on the temple in which hundreds of Sikhs were brutally killed. In the process, the temple was badly damaged. In retaliation, just a few months later on October 31, 1984, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her own Sikh bodyguards.
Indira Gandhi was Nehru’s daughter. She married a man named Gandhi who was no relation to the Mahatma. Indira continued industrialization, begun by her father. In 1975 Gandhi was convicted on two counts of corruption in the 1971 campaign. While appealing the decision, she declared a state of emergency, imprisoned her political opponents, and assumed emergency powers. Governing by decree, she imposed total press censorship and implemented a policy of large-scale sterilization as a form of birth control. When long-postponed national elections were held in 1977, Gandhi and her party were soundly defeated. Although very popular at the polls, she faced a great challenge in dealing with nationalist movements among minority groups, especially the Sikhs in Punjab state. The Sikhs sought independence of Punjab, and when they used terrorism, Indira struck back. The Golden Temple -- an extremely holy Sikh shrine at Amritsar was being used by the terrorists as a weapons storehouse and a sanctuary. Indira ordered a military raid on the temple in which hundreds of Sikhs were brutally killed. In the process, the temple was badly damaged. In retaliation, just a few months later on October 31, 1984, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her own Sikh bodyguards.
Indira Gandhi was Nehru’s daughter. She married a man named Gandhi who was no relation to the Mahatma. Indira continued industrialization, begun by her father. In 1975 Gandhi was convicted on two counts of corruption in the 1971 campaign. While appealing the decision, she declared a state of emergency, imprisoned her political opponents, and assumed emergency powers. Governing by decree, she imposed total press censorship and implemented a policy of large-scale sterilization as a form of birth control. When long-postponed national elections were held in 1977, Gandhi and her party were soundly defeated. Although very popular at the polls, she faced a great challenge in dealing with nationalist movements among minority groups, especially the Sikhs in Punjab state. The Sikhs sought independence of Punjab, and when they used terrorism, Indira struck back. The Golden Temple -- an extremely holy Sikh shrine at Amritsar was being used by the terrorists as a weapons storehouse and a sanctuary. Indira ordered a military raid on the temple in which hundreds of Sikhs were brutally killed. In the process, the temple was badly damaged. In retaliation, just a few months later on October 31, 1984, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her own Sikh bodyguards.
. General elections in November 1989 brought the defeat of Rajiv Gandhi. Officials in his government were accused of taking kickbacks from the Bofors Company of Sweden in a purchase of guns for the army. Vishwanath Pratap Singh, leader of the Janata Dal party, was sworn in as prime minister on Dec. 2, 1989. In March 1990 India withdrew the last of its 50,000 troops from Sri Lanka. The peacekeeping force failed in its three-year effort to reconcile the Tamils with the majority Sinhalese. Campaigning to return to office, Gandhi was killed by a bomb blast on May 21, 1991.
The population of India is just over 1 billion people. It is believed that India’s population will surpass that of China by 2020. No success with family planning, birth control/abortion. Necessity of large families in agrarian subsistence lifestyle. India's economy is uneven at best: many Indians lead a subsistence lifestyle, while a sizeable middle class and a small upper class live in the cities. The situation in Kashmir is quite dangerous. Ongoing hostilities continue, and both sides continue a low-level crossfire across the border of this divided region. Three wars have been fought over Kashmir: 1948, 1965, and 1971. The 1972 partition did not settle the issue. Because both sides, India and Pakistan, have nuclear weapons, some fear that the potential for large-scale war could lead to the use of these nuclear weapons. In the summer of 2002, India and Pakistan came within a hair’s breadth of war.
Khan stressed modernization. His following in West Pakistan held liberal views of Islamic law, leading to dissent within W. Pakistan, and especially in East Pakistan. After Khan left office in 1969, East Pakistan refused to pay taxes to West Pakistan. West Pakistan sent in troops, sparking civil war. Thousands killed, millions escaped to India. India entered the war, helped Bangladesh declare its independence in 1972.
The population of India is just over 1 billion people. It is believed that India’s population will surpass that of China by 2020. No success with family planning, birth control/abortion. Necessity of large families in agrarian subsistence lifestyle. India's economy is uneven at best: many Indians lead a subsistence lifestyle, while a sizeable middle class and a small upper class live in the cities. The situation in Kashmir is quite dangerous. Ongoing hostilities continue, and both sides continue a low-level crossfire across the border of this divided region. Three wars have been fought over Kashmir: 1948, 1965, and 1971. The 1972 partition did not settle the issue. Because both sides, India and Pakistan, have nuclear weapons, some fear that the potential for large-scale war could lead to the use of these nuclear weapons. In the summer of 2002, India and Pakistan came within a hair’s breadth of war.
