The anguish of the Sikhs that the Golden Temple was made a battle ground is perfectly understandable. But why did the Sikh militants choose to hole up in there along with a heavy stockpile of weapons? Were they not the first ones to commit sacrilege, to convert the holy site into a potential battleground? They thought they could do anything they wanted with the Golden Temple. The author also says, "It was against this background that some political elements raised their hopes of Khalistan or Sikhistan", meaning after the Golden Temple incident.It is wrong. Demand for Khalistan had been strong for quite a long period before that, feeding terrorism by Sikh militants. I agree that the contribution of Sikhs to India has been substantial & that they have suffered during partition and later during the Sikh militancy days. But Punjabi refugees were given good incentives after the partition. Punjabi community as a whole is better off than most other Indian communities. Punjab as a state has not been neglected. It's time all Sikhs identified themselves as Indians. They want to reduce the central control yet want more central resources. One more Kashmir?
