eling caused much tension between Hindus and Muslims and again jeopardized Indira’s position as Prime Minister of India. Despite of all the political and ethnic turmoil, many say that Indira’s own personality contributed to her difficulties (Hussain Interview). An intensely private person who seemed nervous around other people, she lived a quiet, simple life. Her mistrust of the manipulations of politicians further removed her from those around her, those who could have protected her (Hussain Interview).Nonetheless, Gandhi’s suspicion and mistrust seem pretty valid, since despite of her popularity a large number of people were unhappy with her way of governing, and it was this animosity that led to Gandhi’s downfall. One element, which was increasingly dissatisfied with the Indian government, was the Sikhs, a sect, whose followers totaled 13 million, a small but still substantial percentage of India's total population of 750 million (Info Please). Many Sikhs felt that Indian society discriminated against them both culturally and politically. In an effort to make the Sikhs' case heard, some members of the Sikh community became increasingly militant, even to the point of committing terrorist acts. Disputes between Sikhs and Hindus were frequently the source of riots and other political violence.In an effort to contain religious violence, Gandhi began to crack down severely on Sikh militants. In June of 1984, she sent Government troops into the Golden Temple, the most holy of all Sikh shrines, because it was suspected of harboring terrorists (Rediff on the Net). When the temple was raided, it was found to be harboring leaders of the Sikh terrorist movement as well as stores of weapons. A large fight erupted between the military and Sikh militants during the raid of the temple. The Golden Temple incident became one of the bloodiest events in India's recent history; at least 600 people were killed in the fighting ...
