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LONDON, ENGLAND, November 14, 2002: Gaming company Eidos has agreed to remove scenes from the video-game “Hitman 2: Silent Assassin” after Sikh youth complained it was racist and offensive. One of the game’s levels is set in a temple and players are asked to “shoot the men in turbans because they are terrorists.” Sikhs say the scene looks exactly like the inside of the Golden Temple in Amritsar. In 1984, several hundred Sikhs were killed there when Indian troops stormed the temple during Operation Blue Star, a deeply resented attack which led directly to Indira Gandhi’s assassination by her own Sikh body guards. Harpreet, 15, from Birmingham, who has seen the game, told BBC’s Newsround why he found the game offensive. “This game refers to terrorists in a Gurdwara. This is disgraceful, because people may think that terrorists wear turbans, but they don’t.” Also many Sikhs believed that to use as the setting for a video game a holy place is disrespectful. The makers have now agreed to change the next edition of the game, remove pictures of the scenes from their website and take steps to correct the game where they can. They have also apologized to the Sikh community, saying that they didn’t mean to cause offense.

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