Sikh Controversies
Conflict with India
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Sikhs argue that, while their religion does adopt some ideas from Hinduism and Islam, it is not really a syncretic creation of the two different faiths. However, one of the first teachings of Nanak was that "There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim" - this, naturally, has caused conflict with adherents of Hinduism and Islam who resist the idea that their religions are not really the truth faiths.
Sikh conflict with Hindus and Muslims has also acquired a political dimension because, in 1947, the land ruled by Britain was divided into India and Pakistan. Sikhs had hoped that the British might create a homeland for them, but the fact of the matter was that their numbers in relation to other residents were simply too small to make such a project viable.
Thus, Sikhs found themselves split by the border between the two new nations and many fled to India, fearing worse persecution at the hands of Muslim than Hindu rulers. Unfortunately, many of their most revered sites are located on the Pakistani side. In the newly independent and democratic India the Sikhs formed the Akali Dal, a Sikh political power devoted entirely to maintaining the Sikh faith through political power and, hopefully, the eventual creation of an independent Sikh nation.
In 1966 their efforts lead to the creation of the state of Punjab within India with Punjabi as its official language. This was not, however, enough for everyone and many continued to agitate for a Sikh nation. One of the most important leaders of this increasingly militant movement was Sant Jarnail Sing Bhindranwale (1947-1984), a charismatic preacher. He and others took refuge in the Golden Temple and the Indian government felt obligated to move against them.
In June of 1984 the Golden Temple was attacked by heavily armed Indian troops (including artillery and tanks) because, supposedly, Bhindranwale and his followers there were plotting against the government. After a four day battle, any unarmed Sikhs were killed along with Bhindranwale and, as a consequence, Sikh bodyguards assassinated the Indian leader who ordered the attack, Indira Gandhi. This lead to widespread anti-Sikh rioting among Hindus and thousands of Sikhs were killed. Relations between the majority Hindus and the Sikh minority, already strained, deteriorated even more and have still not been repaired.
Today, many Sikhs continue to hope for the creation of an independent nation, one which they have already named: "Khalistan." Such a nation would be carved out of the Punjab state in India, but because it provides most of India's grain, it seems very unlikely that such a partition would ever take place - or, at the very least, take place peacefully. Current Hindu nationalism in India, caused primarily by the tense relations with the Muslim minority and neighboring Muslim state of Pakistan, is likely to have a continuing deleterious effect on Hindu-Sikh relations.
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