Protests after hanging of Sikhs

First Edition

New Delhi - Two Sikh terrorists, convicted of murdering an Indian army general six years ago, died on the gallows before dawn yesterday, writes Tim McGirk. Their hanging sparked off protests by students and shop-keepers in the Sikh-dominated state of Punjab.

Security forces were put on alert in New Delhi, Pune, the southern city where the two assassins were hanged, and throughout the Punjab, where Sikh militants are active. The men, Sukhwinder Singh Sukha and Harjinder Singh Jinda, had shot dead General Arun Sridhar Vaidya, who was responsible for leading the 1984 army assault on the Golden Temple of Amritsar where Sikh separatists had taken refuge. While being led from their cell to the gallows set up in the Yerawada gaol yard, the two convicted killers shouted slogans for Sikh independence in the Punjab.