Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

SIKH MILITANTS • 631Hind Samacher newspaper and son of an enemy of Bhindranwalewho had also been assassinated on 9 September 1981.In the years following the Indian army’s June 1984 assault on theGolden Temple, in which Bhindranwale was killed and the AkalTakht (the Golden Temple’s holy of holies) severely damaged, anumber of murders, massacres, and pillagings have been perpetratedboth by Sikhs against Hindus and by Hindus against Sikhs. By thePunjab Home Department’s estimates, in 1985 there were 61 deathsdue to such terrorism; in 1986 there were 520 such deaths; 1987 witnessed1,199 deaths; and 1988 1,964 deaths. The Dashmesh Regimentclaimed credit for at least five major incidents following the attackon the Golden Temple, including an assassination attempt on RajivGandhi on 2 October 1986. But the identities of parties responsiblefor other terrorist actions have been masked by their use of noms deguerre. For example, on 30 November 1986 Sikh gunmen stopped abus and shot dead 24 Hindu passengers. This was repeated on 7 July1987 with two buses, killing 38 and injuring 32 in one, and killing fourand injuring 32 in the other. Although these actions were claimed in thename of the Khalistan Commando Force, the perpetrators turned out tobe AISSF members. Similarly, the Regiment may in fact turn out to bean extension of Dal Khalsa, AISSF, or other Sikh groups.Most of these actions have been confined to India, mainly to thePunjab and nearby Haryana State. The Dashmesh Regiment claimedresponsibility for two major terrorist actions outside India, the prematureexplosion of a bomb intended to be loaded onto an Air IndiaBoeing 747 at Tokyo’s Narita airport and the 23 June 1985 Air IndiaFlight 182 bombing of a Boeing 747 carrying 329 people fromToronto, Canada, to London. Wreckage of this plane found off thecoast of Ireland indicated it may have been bombed. In 1985 the U.S.Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported that it had foiled aSikh extremist plot to assassinate Indira Gandhi during her visit to theUnited States in August 1982 as well as a later plot to assassinate thechief minister of Haryana State during his visit to New Orleans.These international terrorist events appear to be anomalies. Althoughmilitant Sikh separatists have had ample opportunity to strikeat Indian targets outside India, such as diplomatic or governmentmanagedcommercial offices abroad, Sikh militants abroad havelargely limited themselves to making demonstrations outside Indianembassies and consulates. It appears likely that Sikh militants realize