7 Sikh Leaders Freed From Jails in India
CHANDIGARH, India — The Indian government has released seven Sikh militant leaders from detention without trial in a renewed bid to thwart separatists in the north Indian state of Punjab.
Police in the state capital, Chandigarh, said three suspects were released on Sunday and two each on Saturday and Friday from jails in Punjab.
Authorities detained hundreds of suspected militants after the Indian army stormed the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Sikhdom’s holiest shrine, in June, 1984, to flush out militants.
Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi earlier this month freed five Sikh high priests and more than 40 detainees in his biggest political concession since signing a Punjab peace accord with moderates in 1985. The accord has never been fully implemented.
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