E/CN.4/1997/91/Add.1 page 15 70. Notwithstanding these manifestations of intolerance reflecting Hindu extremism and some very rare cases of Muslim extremism in Jammu and Kashmir, the Special Rapporteur considers that the situation of the Christian community is in general satisfactory. C. Situation of Sikhs 71. In India as a whole the Sikhs are a minority (about 1.94 per cent of the population in 1991); but in Punjab they constitute a majority (about two thirds) of the inhabitants. 1. The religious field 72. During his consultations the Special Rapporteur received information of two diametrically opposite types on the Sikhs (particularly in Punjab). 73. On the one hand, political representatives and persons of standing in civil society stated that the Sikh minority is the victim of a policy of intolerance and discrimination based on religion pursued by the authorities. Some individuals even referred to a policy of religious repression, which reached a climax in June 1984 with the attack by the Indian armed forces on the Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib), a Sikh religious sanctuary in Amritsar, followed by reprisals against Sikhs throughout India, and particularly in Delhi, after the murder of Indira Gandhi on 31 October 1984 by Sikh bodyguards to avenge her decision to attack the Golden Temple. It was alleged that the Sikh minority was being subjected to State terrorism, which found expression not only in the desecration of holy places but also in murders, summary and extrajudicial executions and forced or involuntary disappearances of Sikh believers. The same individuals stated that this policy based on religion and its manifestations, particularly in the economic and social fields, had recently become less violent but was still being pursued by indirect means, such as the continuing presence of Indian security forces at the Golden Temple and the measures taken with regard to the civil service (see para. 79 below). 74. According to a second source of information (including non-governmental and religious organizations and the authorities), the conflictual situation which had arisen in Punjab had no religious basis; it was purely political. In actual fact the authorities were combating the development of a militant Sikh terrorist movement campaigning for a separate and autonomous Sikh state, which had first appeared in 1978; it was financed by the Sikh diaspora (and even by Pakistan) and was using religion to secure the support of Sikhs and as an easy means of whipping up their passions in favour of a purely political cause. Certain Sikh political parties had exploited that situation for their own ends in the hope of obtaining advantages and concessions from the authorities and of increasing their influence among the Sikh population by creating confusion between religious and political matters. 75. According to these observers, the conflict in Punjab is the outcome of socio-economic factors (conflict between different States over the sharing of water, which is vital for the rural economy of Punjab), external factors (support by the Sikh diaspora of the extremism of a fanatical minority; destabilizing role played by Pakistan) and divisive elements within the Sikh community itself (dissension within the Sikh political parties, some of which