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Community mediation in multicultural India 413were also political, since the state was to be reorganized in 1966 as a Punjabistate providing the Sikhs with a majority in the state. The paper deeplysupported the Sikh community politically and socially. After Operation BlueStar in 1984 in which Indira Gandhi sent troops into the Golden Temple todrive out Sikh extremists, Ajit spoke out bitterly against the central government’sactions. Throughout the 1980s and early part of the 1990s, the paperremained sympathetic toward Sikh separatism (Jeffrey, 1997b). BarjinderSingh, the current editor, became a Member of Parliament in 1999, andadopted a more moderate stance. 12 Currently, Ajit has the highest circulationamong Punjabi newspapers.The continued presence of Hindi advocates after the re-division of Punjabis also reflected in Punjab’s media development. Despite the restructuring ofPunjab that made it primarily a Punjabi-speaking area, the state continues toaccommodate the largest circulating Hindi paper in the country. The PunjabKesari, launched by the Hind Samachar group, boasts the third largest circulationamong the vernacular newspapers in the country with a circulation ofover 700,000 daily. A large readership in Delhi and Haryana account for overhalf of its circulation figures. In Punjab, this paper is associated with the Hindubusiness community. In the 1980s, Punjab Kesari openly opposed Sikhextremists. Consequently, the paper’s editor-owners paid a heavy price. Itsfounder, Lala Jagat Narain, was killed in 1981 by Sikh extremists. His son,Ramesh Chandra, was similarly assassinated in 1984. Such direct connectionbetween media organizations and the tense politics of Punjab affects investmentin the media and divides its audience along sectarian lines.The Punjabi film industry also suffered as a consequence of the dividedobjectives of the Punjabi community. After the partition, several prominentactors and directors migrated from a thriving Punjabi film industry to Mumbaito the rapidly developing Hindi film industry. These Punjabi film personalitiesparticipated in Hindi and Punjabi films before the partition and, then, primarilyin Hindi films following the partition. The result was the transfer of capitaland expertise from Punjab. This left a vacuum in the Punjabi cinema,influencing media development for many years thereafter. Not surprisingly,Punjabi media lags behind their southern counterparts despite the highconsumer propensity of the region.In modern-day Punjab, religious and language differences continue to reartheir heads, influencing the region’s social and political institutions. Initialmedia enterprises, such as Punjabi TV, struggled to survive due to shortage ofinvestment capital. Punjabi TV’s association with the Shiromani GurudwaraPrabhand Committee (SGPC), a sociopolitical organization in charge ofmanaging the Sikh religious bodies, may have excluded the Punjabi Hinduaudience. Also, the less-developed Punjabi film industry was unable to playthe supportive role played by the Telugu and Kerala film sectors. Soon,