Editing Religious persecution (section)

===Persecutions of Sikhs===
{{See also|Chhota Ghallughara|Vadda Ghalughara|1947 Mirpur massacre|1947–1948 Rajouri massacre|1984 anti-Sikh riots| Chittisinghpura massacre |Kabul gurdwara attack}}
[[Sikhism]] is a [[Dharmic religion]] that originated in the [[Punjab]] region of the [[Indian subcontinent]]<ref>{{Cite book |editor-last1=Moreno |editor-first1=Luis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N5lpveRnSxEC&pg=PA207 |title=Diversity and Unity in Federal Countries |editor-last2=Colino |editor-first2=César |date=2010 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press |isbn=978-0-7735-9087-8 | pages= 200–226 | last= Arora | first= Balveer | chapter= Republic of India}}</ref>{{rp|207}} around the end of the 15th century CE. The Sikh religion developed and evolved during periods of religious persecution, gaining converts from [[Hinduism]] and [[Islam]].<ref name="Singh2008">{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Pritam |title=Federalism, Nationalism and Development: India and the Punjab Economy |date=2008 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=Abingdon-on-Thames, England |isbn=978-1-134-04945-5 |quote=A large number of Hindu and Muslim peasants converted to Sikhism from conviction, fear, economic motives, or a combination of the three (Khushwant Singh 1999: 106; Ganda Singh 1935: 73).}}</ref> [[Mughal emperors]] of India tortured and executed two of the Sikh gurus—[[Guru Arjan]] (1563–1605) and [[Guru Tegh Bahadur]] (1621–1675)—after [[Forced conversion#Islam|they refused to convert to Islam]].<ref name="pashauraarjan">Pashaura Singh (2005), Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan, Journal of Punjab Studies, 12(1), pp. 29–62</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=Pashaura |last1=Singh |first2=Louis E. |last2=Fenech |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=8I0NAwAAQBAJ |title=The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |date=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-969930-8 |pages=236–238}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Fenech |first=Louis E. |date=2001 |title=Martyrdom and the Execution of Guru Arjan in Early Sikh Sources |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=121 |issue=1 |pages=20–31 |doi=10.2307/606726 |jstor=606726}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Fenech |first=Louis E. |date=1997 |title=Martyrdom and the Sikh Tradition |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=117 |issue=4 |pages=623–642 |doi=10.2307/606445 |jstor=606445}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=McLeod |first=Hew |author-link=William Hewat McLeod |date=1999 |title=Sikhs and Muslims in the Punjab |journal=South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies |volume=22 |issue=sup001 |pages=155–165 |doi=10.1080/00856408708723379}}</ref>

The persecution of Sikhs during the Islamic era triggered the founding of the ''[[Khalsa]]'' by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699, the Khalsa is an order which was founded for the purpose of protecting the [[freedom of conscience]] and [[Freedom of religion|religion]] of the Sikhs,<ref name="pashauraarjan"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Johar|first1=Surinder|title=Guru Gobind Singh: A Multi-faceted Personality|date=1999|publisher=M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd. |isbn=978-81-7533-093-1|page=89}}</ref><ref name="Gandhi">{{cite book |title=History of Sikh Gurus Retold: 1606–1708 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers<!--NOT Atlantic Books, of London--> |location=New Delhi |last=Gandhi |first=Surjit Singh |date=1 February 2008 |pages=676–677 |isbn=978-81-269-0857-8}}</ref> with members expressing the qualities of a ''[[Sant Sipahi|Sant-Sipāhī]]''—a saint-soldier.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chanchreek |first=Jain |title=Encyclopaedia of Great Festivals |date=2007 |publisher=Shree Publishers |isbn=978-81-8329-191-0 |page=142}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Dugga|first=Kartar|title=Maharaja Ranjit Singh: The Last to Lay Arms|date=2001|publisher=Abhinav Publications |isbn=978-81-7017-410-3|page=33}}</ref>

In February 1762, [[Durrani Empire|Afghan]] emperor [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]] perpetrated a massacre against the families and camp followers of the [[Dal Khalsa (Sikh Army)|Sikh Army]], killing between 10,000 and 30,000 people, in a massacre that is now known as [[Vadda Ghalughara]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lee |first=L. Jonathan |title=Afghanistan: A History from 1260 to the Present |year=2018 |isbn=978-1789140101 |pages=128 |publisher=Reaktion Books |language=}}</ref> Following the massacre, he attacked [[Amritsar]] and desecrated the [[Golden Temple]] by throwing cow carcasses into its sacred lake and then filling it with rubble from demolished [[gurdwara]]s and [[temple]]s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lee |first=L. Jonathan |title=Afghanistan: A History from 1260 to the Present |year=2018 |isbn=978-1789140101 |pages=128|publisher=Reaktion Books }}</ref>

According to Ashish Bose, a population research scholar, Sikhs and Hindus were well integrated in [[Afghanistan]] until the [[Soviet–Afghan War|Soviet invasion]] when their economic condition worsened. Thereafter, they became the objects of "intense hate" as a result of the rise of religious fundamentalism in Afghanistan.<ref name=abosep4698/> Their "targeted persecution" triggered an exodus and forced them to seek asylum.<ref name=emadip316>{{cite journal | last=Emadi | first=Hafizullah | title=Minorities and marginality: pertinacity of Hindus and Sikhs in a repressive environment in Afghanistan | journal=Nationalities Papers | publisher=Cambridge University Press | volume=42 | issue=2 | year=2014 | doi=10.1080/00905992.2013.858313 | pages=307–320| s2cid=153662810 }}, Quote: "The situation of Hindus and Sikhs as a persecuted minority is a little-studied topic in literature dealing with ethno-sectarian conflict in Afghanistan. (...) the breakdown of state structure and the ensuing civil conflicts and targeted persecution in the 1990s that led to their mass exodus out of the country. A combination of structural failure and rising Islamic fundamentalist ideology in the post-Soviet era led to a war of ethnic cleansing as fundamentalists suffered a crisis of legitimation and resorted to violence as a means to establish their authority. Hindus and Sikhs found themselves in an uphill battle to preserve their culture and religious traditions in a hostile political environment in the post-Taliban period. The international community and Kabul failed in their moral obligation to protect and defend the rights of minorities and oppressed communities."</ref><ref name=abosep4698/> Many of them started arriving in and after 1992 as refugees in India, with some seeking asylum in the United Kingdom and other western countries.<ref name=abosep4698/><ref name=emadip316/> Unlike the arrivals in the West, the persecuted Sikh refugees who arrived in India have remained stateless and lived as refugees because India has historically lacked any refugee law or uniform policy for persecuted refugees, state Ashish Bose and Hafizullah Emadi.<ref name="abosep4698"/><ref name="auto1"/>

On 7 November 1947, thousands of Hindus and Sikhs were targeted in the [[Rajouri Massacre]] in the [[Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)|Jammu and Kashmir princely state]]. It is estimated 30,000+ Hindus and Sikhs were either killed, abducted or injured.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZBwNAAAAIAAJ|title=Operations in Jammu & Kashmir, 1947–48|last1=Prasad|first1=Sri Nandan|last2=Pal|first2=Dharm|date=1 January 1987|publisher=History Division, Ministry of Defence, Government of India|pages=49–50}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first1=Vijay Kumar|last1=Singh|title=Leadership in the Indian Army: Biographies of Twelve Soldiers|year=2005|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cJDsk_g6tXUC&q=9780761933229 |isbn=978-0-7619-3322-9 |publisher=[[SAGE Publications]] |page=160}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=D.P. Ramachandran |title=Empire's First Soldiers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Q7EiZmcMPMC |year=2008| publisher=Lancer Publishers |isbn=978-0-9796174-7-8 |page=171}}</ref> In one instance, on 12 November 1947 alone between 3000 and 7000 were killed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dailyexcelsior.com/the-day-rajouri-was-recaptured/ |title=The day Rajouri was recaptured |last=Maini |first=K.D. |date=12 April 2015 |website=dailyexcelsior.com|publisher=Daily Excelsior |access-date=19 October 2020}}</ref> A few weeks after on 25 November 1947, tribal forces began the [[1947 Mirpur massacre]] of thousands more Hindus and Sikhs. An estimated 20,000+ died in the massacre.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dpTpCAAAQBAJ|title=Jammu and Kashmir|last=Gupta|first=Jyoti Bhusan Das|date=6 December 2012|publisher=Springer|isbn=9789401192316|page=97}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5amKCwAAQBAJ&pg=167|title=Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris|last=Snedden|first=Christopher|date=15 September 2015|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9781849046213|page=167}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ItY3BAAAQBAJ|title=Across the Line of Control: Inside Azad Kashmir|last=Puri|first=Luv|date=21 February 2012|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=9780231800846|pages=28–30}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=65I98RN-qzUC|title=A Story of Bungling in Kashmir|last=Madhok|first=Balraj|date=1 January 1972|publisher=Young Asia Publications|page=67}}</ref><ref>Sharma (2013), "Growing overlap between terrorism and organized crime in India: A case study", ''Security Journal'', 26(1), 139</ref><ref name="Khalid Hasan">{{cite book |last=Hasan |first=Khalid |chapter=Mirpur 1947 |editor-last=Gupta |editor-first=Bal K. |title=Forgotten Atrocities: Memoirs of a Survivor of the 1947 Partition of India |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N2BIAwAAQBAJ |year=2013 |orig-year=2007 |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=978-1-257-91419-7 |pages=141–144 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://udayindia.org/content_08may2010/statescan.html |title=Horrific Tales: Over 3,00,000 Hindus, Sikhs from PoK still fighting for their acceptance |last=Prakriiti Gupta |date=8 September 2011 |publisher=Uday India |archive-date=8 September 2011 |access-date=17 May 2017 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110908063433/http://udayindia.org/content_08may2010/statescan.html }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.koausa.org/massacres/mirpur.html|title=Kashmir History and Politics|last=Ram Chander Sharma|date=April 2011|website=www.koausa.org|series=Extracted from a survivor Bal K. Gupta's accounts|access-date=17 May 2017}}</ref>

In June 1984, during [[Operation Blue Star]], [[Indira Gandhi]] ordered the [[Indian Army]] to attack the [[Harmandir Sahib|Golden Temple]] and eliminate any insurgents, as it had been occupied by Sikh separatists who were stockpiling weapons. [[Operation Woodrose|Later operations]] by Indian paramilitary forces were initiated to clear the separatists from the countryside of [[Punjab (Indian state)|Punjab]] state.<ref name="Charny1999">{{cite book|last=Charny|first=Israel W.|title=Encyclopaedia of genocide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8Q30HcvCVuIC&pg=PA516|access-date=21 February 2011|year=1999|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-87436-928-1|pages=516–517}}</ref>

The 1984 anti-Sikhs riots were a series of [[pogroms]]<ref name="toiprog">{{Cite web|date=31 December 2005|title=State pogroms glossed over | work= Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/State-pogroms-glossed-over/articleshow/1353464.cms|url-status= live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811083708/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2005-12-31/india/27838902_1_communal-tension-communal-violence-gujarat-riots |archive-date=11 August 2011 }}</ref><ref name="rediffprog">{{cite web|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/may/09sikh.htm |title=Anti-Sikh riots a pogrom: Khushwant |work=Rediff.com |access-date=23 September 2009 | date= 9 May 2001 | author1= Basharat Peer }}</ref><ref name="2009BBCremember">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8306420.stm|title=Indira Gandhi's death remembered|last=Bedi|first=Rahul|date=1 November 2009|publisher=BBC|quote=The 25th anniversary of Indira Gandhi's assassination revives stark memories of some 3,000 Sikhs killed brutally in the orderly pogrom that followed her killing|access-date=2 November 2009| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091102113639/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8306420.stm| archive-date= 2 November 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref> directed against [[Sikh]]s in India, by anti-Sikh mobs, in response to the [[assassination of Indira Gandhi]] by her Sikh bodyguards. There were more than 8,000<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ndtv.com/cheat-sheet/delhi-court-to-give-verdict-on-re-opening-1984-riots-case-against-congress-leader-jagdish-tytler-518591|title=Delhi court to give verdict on re-opening 1984 riots case against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler|website=NDTV.com}}</ref> deaths, including 3,000 in Delhi.<ref name="2009BBCremember"/>

The violence in Delhi was triggered by the assassination of [[Indira Gandhi]], India's prime minister, on 31 October 1984, by two of her Sikh [[bodyguard]]s in response to her actions authorising the military operation. After the [[assassination of Indira Gandhi|assassination]] following [[Operation Blue Star]], many [[Indian National Congress]] workers including [[Jagdish Tytler]], [[Sajjan Kumar]] and Kamal Nath were accused of inciting and participating in riots targeting the Sikh population of the capital. The Indian government reported 2,700 deaths in the ensuing chaos. In the aftermath of the riots, the Indian government reported 20,000 had fled the city, however the [[People's Union for Civil Liberties]] reported "at least" 1,000 [[displaced person]]s.<ref name="Mukhoty 1984">{{Citation |title=Who are the Guilty ? | last1 =Mukhoty | first1 =Gobinda | last2 =Kothari | first2 =Rajni |url=http://www.sacw.net/aii/WhoaretheGuilty.html |year=1984 |publisher=[[People's Union for Civil Liberties]]| access-date=4 November 2010 <!--DASHBot-->}}</ref> The most affected regions were the Sikh neighbourhoods in Delhi. The [[Central Bureau of Investigation]], the main Indian investigating agency, is of the opinion that the acts of violence were organized with the support from the then Delhi police officials and the central government headed by Indira Gandhi's son, [[Rajiv Gandhi]].<ref name="IBN23April">{{cite news|url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/1984-antisikh-riots-backed-by-govt-police-cbi/251375-37-64.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425011626/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/1984-antisikh-riots-backed-by-govt-police-cbi/251375-37-64.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 April 2012 |title=1984 anti-Sikh riots backed by Govt, police: CBI |publisher=[[IBN Live]]|date=23 April 2012 |access-date=27 April 2012}}</ref> Rajiv Gandhi was sworn in as Prime Minister after his mother's death and, when asked about the riots, said "when a big tree falls (Mrs. Gandhi's death), the earth shakes (occurrence of riots)" thus trying to justify communal strife.<ref name="HT18NOV">{{cite news |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/India/India/Article1-352523.aspx |title=1984 anti-Sikh riots 'wrong', says Rahul Gandhi |newspaper=[[Hindustan Times]] |date=18 November 2008 |access-date=5 May 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012025532/http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/India/India/Article1-352523.aspx |archive-date=12 October 2013 }}</ref>

It has been alleged that at that time, the [[Indian National Congress]]'s government destroyed evidence and shielded the guilty. The ''[[Asian Age]]'' front-page story called the government's actions "the Mother of all Cover-ups"<ref name=coverup-1>{{cite news | last = Mustafa |first = Seema | title = 1984 Sikhs Massacres: Mother of All Cover-ups | work = Front page story | page = 1| publisher = The Asian Age | date = 9 August 2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | last = Agal |first = Renu | title = Justice delayed, justice denied | work = BBC News | date = 11 August 2005}}</ref> There are allegations that the violence was led and often perpetrated by Indian National Congress activists and sympathisers during the riots.<ref name="Leaders">{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4130962.stm | title=Leaders 'incited' anti-Sikh riots | work=BBC News | date=8 August 2005 | access-date=23 November 2012}}</ref> The government, then led by the Congress, was widely criticised for doing very little at the time, possibly acting as a conspirator. The [[conspiracy theory]] is supported by the fact that voting lists were used to identify Sikh families. Despite the communal conflict and despite the record of the riots, the Indian National Congress claims that it is a secular political party.

The Chittisinghpura massacre, the murder of 35 villagers who were members of the [[Sikhism|Sikh]] faith, was committed on 20 March 2000, in the Chittisinghpora (Chittisinghpura) village of the [[Anantnag district]], [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]], India, on the eve of President [[Bill Clinton]]'s state visit to India. The identities of the perpetrators of the massacre remain unknown. The Indian government asserts that the massacre was conducted by the Pakistan-based [[Militant Islam|militant]] group [[Lashkar-e-Taiba]] (LeT). Other accounts accuse the [[Indian Army]] and [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh|RSS]] of the massacre.<ref>{{cite news| title=  Retired Lt Gen says Indian Army was involved in Sikh Massacre of Chittisinghpura| newspaper   = Southasian Monitor| author = SAM Staff Bangla| date = March 23, 2021| url = https://southasianmonitor.net/public/en/focus/retired-lt-gen-says-indian-army-was-involved-in-sikh-massacre-of-chittisinghpura|access-date = June 14, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| title= Retired Sikh Gen says Indian Army involved in Sikh massacre| website= Radio Pakistan| date = March 21, 2021| url= https://radio.gov.pk/21-03-2021/retired-sikh-gen-says-indian-army-involved-in-sikh-massacre| access-date = June 14, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title= Chattisingpora massacre masterminded by RSS| newspaper   = The News| author = Humayun Aziz Sandeela | date= March 22, 2021| url = https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/807874-chattisingpora-massacre-masterminded-by-rss| access-date = June 14, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| title = Chattisingpora massacre masterminded by RSS| newspaper= Pakistan Observer|author= News desk| date= March 22, 2021| url = https://pakobserver.net/chattisingpora-massacre-masterminded-by-rss/ | access-date = June 14, 2022}}</ref>

On [[Kabul gurdwara attack|25 March 2020]], ISIS-[[Haqqani network]] Gunmen and Suicide bombers attacked the Gurdwara Har Rai Sahib (a [[Sikh]] shrine) in [[Kabul]], Afghanistan.

According to reports, about 200 worshipers were inside the building, 25 of them were killed and at least 8 others were wounded after an hour-long siege ended when all of the assailants were killed by responding security forces. At least one child was said to have been among the people who were killed, according to the ministry of interior's statement.