News In Brief

Sikhs call national day of mourning in India

No incidents of violence or arrest were reported in Sunday's nationwide day of prayer by Sikhs, who were mourning more than 900 of their fellows killed June 6 when the Army stormed the Golden Temple in Amritsar. No incidents of violence or arrest were reported.

As the Sikhs protested the storming of their most sacred shrine, President Zail Singh, himself a Sikh, made an appeal for harmony and brotherhood in a national television address.

On Saturday, medical workers in Amritsar said soldiers had threatened to shoot them if they gave food or water to Sikh pilgrims wounded in the attack and lying in the hospital. A Defense Ministry spokesman in New Delhi denied that soldiers impeded attempts to treat the injured and rejected a charge that the Army regarded them as prisoners of war.

Telecommunications links to Amritsar and power and water supplies to the Golden Temple were restored Friday.