Nearly 16,000 Hindus Riot to Protest Sikh Terrorism

Nearly 16,000 Hindus protesting Sikh terrorism rioted in the capital today, and some of them battled sword-wielding Sikhs outside two temples. Police arrested about 1,300 people and used steel-tipped clubs to disperse the crowds.

The violence erupted during a general strike called by an opposition Hindu party to express “anger and anguish” over this week’s slayings in Punjab state in which police said terrorists gunned down 24 Hindu bus passengers on Sunday and killed 10 other Hindus in separate incidents. (Story, Page 6.)

Fighting today was heavy in 14 areas of New Delhi where Hindus threw stones, blocked roads and set fire to at least eight vehicles and two houses owned by Sikhs.

Bloodied protesters were seen at two locations, but police had no overall casualty count. They said two officers were hospitalized.

A spokesman at New Delhi’s police control room said all 32,000 police officers, aided by 7,000 paramilitary troops and provincial guard units, were out in force on the second day of protests stemming from the Punjab attacks.

‘Very Tense’ Situation

Police said sectarian fighting broke out near the Sisganj Sikh temple after 150 sword-wielding Sikhs confronted up to 8,000 Hindu protesters who crowded around the shrine.

Police shot in the air, fired tear gas and made repeated charges with steel-tipped bamboo clubs to disperse the rioters. But thousands of Hindus remained behind police barricades at nightfall, and area Police Chief R. Mohan said: “The situation is very tense. We can’t say what we are going to do.”

Temple spokesman Hardeep Singh said shouted curses from Hindus brought the Sikhs out of the shrine. “They challenged us,” he said.

Earlier in the day in east Delhi, about 2,000 protesters converged on a Sikh temple in the Jheel Kuranja area and fighting erupted when five sword-wielding Sikhs emerged from the shrine, witnesses said. Police said that Hindus set fire to three vehicles and that about 200 people were involved in the fighting.

In west Delhi, police said they used the bamboo clubs to break up about 1,000 Hindus who tried to stop a police official’s private car.

‘Near-Total’ Strike

A police official described today’s strike in the northern state of Punjab as “near-total.”

There were also general strikes in the northern states of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

Police in Punjab today arrested a Sikh religious leader and two leaders of the radical, breakaway faction of the state’s ruling Akali Dal Party.

The United News of India said that as many as 100 men would be taken into custody, many of them breakaway Akali Dal members, in a bid to curb terrorism.

Some Sikhs, who make up only about 2% of India’s 780-million population, are seeking a separate homeland in Punjab state, where the religious sect is in the majority.