E/CN.4/1997/91/Add.1 page 16 had assigned themselves the task of safeguarding the political and religious identity of the Sikhs; rejection by a number of senior members of the Sikh religious community of this attempt to politicize religion, etc.). 76. Their conclusion was that religion had, in a manner of speaking, become a hostage and was being exploited for political ends. 77. As regards the Golden Temple, these sources explained that the purpose of the “Blue Star” operation undertaken in June 1984 had been to expel armed Sikh extremists from the sanctuary. There had been no intention of attacking the religious identity of the Sikhs. Moreover, that incident had not given rise to any intercommunal clashes in India. On the subject of the continued presence of security forces at the Golden Temple, the authorities stated that it in no way hindered entry into the place of worship - which was frequented by Sikhs in large numbers - but that it was in fact necessary to remain vigilant against any possible attempt at destabilization by foreign and extremist forces. 78. These sources thus concluded that there was no religious problem, at the same time emphasizing that the Sikh minority enjoyed all its constitutional rights in the field of religion, including freedom of belief, freedom to practise their religion and freedom to proselytize, in addition to the protection and safeguards of rights granted to religious minorities. In particular, the Punjab authorities stated that: “The Federal and State Governments are secular in this country. The State Government of Punjab always ensures to provide freedom of conscience and the right to profess, practise and propagate every religion and a right to establish and maintain religious institutions to manage their religious affairs. The people living in Punjab are having/practising their religions both individually and jointly. The Government is also always trying to promote communal harmony by arranging functions at the district level. The people of every sect are free to celebrate their religious functions and holidays are declared rather liberally by the State Government of Punjab for religious processions. So there is no religious intolerance in the State of Punjab and there has never been any outbreak of communal riots leading to loss of life in the State of Punjab.” 2. Other fields 79. On the basis of all the information received and a detailed study of the documentation it appears that the situation of the Sikhs in the religious field is satisfactory, but that difficulties are arising in the political (foreign interference, terrorism, etc.), economic (in particular with regard to sharing of water supplies) and even occupational fields. Information received from non-government sources indicates that discrimination does exist in certain sectors of the public administration; examples include the decline in the number of Sikhs in the police force and the absence of Sikhs in personal bodyguard units since the murder of Indira Gandhi. The authorities have refuted these allegations and have emphasized that admission to the civil service is by competition open to all, irrespective of religion. Dysfunctions