•
Sixteen people were killed at
Amritsar in India's
Punjab state, when rival sects of the
Sikh religion fought each other at a convention in Amritsar of members of the
Sant Nirankari Mission.
Gurbachan Singh, the guru and leader of the Sant Nirankari sect, had obtained permission from the Punjab state government to hold a public celebration of the founding of the
Khalsa religious order. At the same time, the leaders of two of the more traditional Sikh groups—
Fauja Singh of the
Akhand Kirtani Jatha and
Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale of the
Damdami Taksal — marched with 200 people from the
Golden Temple toward the gathering of the Nirankaris, after which the clash ensued, leaving 16 of the traditional Sikhs and three of the Nirankaris dead. • The
43rd Amendment to the
Constitution of India, restoring human rights that had been taken away in 1977 during the administration of
Indira Gandhi, took effect upon ratification by 18 of India's 22 states, and repealed the
42nd Amendment, which had added six articles that had given India's Parliament broad power to enforce Gandhi's decrees, and prohibited the India Supreme Court from declaring a law unconstitutional. • The first of three assassination attempts against Spanish politician
José Larrañaga Arenas took place in Spain in
San Sebastián in the province of
Gipuzkoa. Larrañaga was wounded when two people shot him from a car, fracturing his left leg. Earlier in the day, an early-morning attempted
car bombing at the offices of ADEGUI (Asociación Democrática Empresarial de Guipúzcoa) injured one of the perpetrators, who surrendered to French authorities after fleeing across the border. Larrañaga was wounded in the chest in a second shooting on April 10, 1980, and the third assassination attempt by the Basque ETA terrorist group, on December 31, 1984, would be successful. • In the course of the "
Dirty War" in Argentina, lawyer and
Montoneros activist
Eduardo Héctor Garat, 32, was kidnapped on a street corner in the city of
Rosario, Santa Fe, and became one of the many
desaparecidos who disappeared and were never heard from again. •
Born: •
Carles Puyol, Spanish footballer with 100 caps for the Spain national team from 2000 to 2013, and 392 for
FC Barcelona in
La Liga, winner of the
One Club Man Award (2018) and the
Don Balón Award for La Liga's breakthrough player (2001); in
La Pobla de Segur,
Catalonia •
Kyle Howard, American TV actor, star of WB's
Run of the House and
Your Family or Mine on TBS; in
Loveland, Colorado •
Farrukh Amonatov, Tajikistani
chess grandmaster; in
Dushanbe,
Tajik SSR,
Soviet Union •
Antoni Sivera, Andorran footballer with 22 caps for the Andorra national team •
Arron Asham, Canadian NHL ice hockey
right winger; in
Portage la Prairie,
Manitoba •
Died: •
Paul McGrath, 74, American radio, film, stage and TV actor best known for the NBC radio program
My Son Jeep •
Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, 77, Nigerian suffragist and women's rights activist, died from injuries suffered on February 18, 1977, from
being thrown out of window by Nigerian government soldiers. •
Violetta Thurstan, 99, English wartime nurse during World War One and author of
Field Hospital and Flying Column •
Jack Chambers, 47, Canadian artist and filmmaker •
William Rees-Thomas CB FRCP FRSM, 90, Welsh psychiatrist •
Ernst Bantle, 77, German international footballer ==April 14, 1978 (Friday)==