AMRITSAR, India, June 4,Reuter: Unknown gunmen today shot dead six Hindus in the north Indian State of Punjab as the Sikhs marked the third anniversary of the Indian army assault on their holiest shrine, the Golden Temple. Police told Reuters five Hindus were killed in two attacks in Amritsar where Sikh freedom fighters began a peaceful protest inside the sprawling Golden Temple Complex against the June, 1984, action which killed more than 10000 people. Gunmen also shot dead a right wing Hindu leader in the industrial city of Ludhiana where police clamped a curfew to forestall Hindu-Sikh clashes.
The deaths bring the toll in violence to 10 this month in Punjab where Sikhs are fighting for an independent homeland.
Several gunmen sprayed bullets into an industrial center in Amritsar this afternoon, killing three Hindus on the spot and seriously injuring two, city criminal investigation department Chief Sital Dass told Reuters.
He said unknown gunmen later shot dead two Hindus at Sultan wind outside this holy Sikh city.
Police were gearing up for a Hindu reaction and might have to impose curfew as in Ludhiana, he said. The killing of minority Hindus was in the past sparked bloody clashes.
Despite the shootings police described the atmosphere in Amritsar a normal.
Sikhs began a reading of the Sikh Holy Book, The Granth Sahib, in the Golden Temple Complex to protest against the army assault and what they called the continued killings of Sikhs by police in fake encounters.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 12, 1987
