Is caste behind the killing in Vienna and riots in Punjab? (Reuters)
"'Via Vienna, Sikh caste war returns, sets Punjab aflame' ran the headline of the Hindustan Times.
"The preacher, Guru Sant Rama Nand, 57, was killed in a gurdwara in the Austrian capital in an attack by six men armed with knives and a gun.
"He was from the Dera Sach Khand, a religious sect separate from mainstream Sikhism that has a large support base of Indian Dalits, or “untouchables”, and other lower castes.
"The leader of Dera Sach Khand, Guru Sant Niranjan Das, 68, was wounded in the attack.
"The thousands who went on the rampage in Punjab on Monday were mainly Dalits. Authorities have imposed a curfew in parts of the state, in which three protesters died on Monday in clashes with security forces.
"The Dera Sach Khand sect was inspired by the 15th century spiritual leader Ravidas, himself from a lower caste. It differs from mainstream Sikhism, for example, in that it reveres living gurus such as Sant Niranjan Das. Some pious Sikhs find this concept offensive.
"Sikhism does not recognise caste, but 'the clash in a Vienna gurdwara and the mob fury are yet another manifestation of simmering discontent that Dalits in Punjab feel due to increasing social inequality and oppression in a society that was supposed to be free of it,' writes the Times of India."
See also:
Making Sense of the Ravi Dasis by Surinder S. Jodhka (Kafila):
"The recent attack on the head of Dera Sachkhand Ballan in one of their gurudwaras in Vienna and the ensuing shoot-out between Dalit and non-Dalit Sikhs, spilling over in India into angry street demonstrations in Jalandhar by followers of Dera Sachkhand and other Dalit bodies, forces us to confront the question of caste in contemporary Punjab. We asked SURINDER S. JODHKA, sociologist and Director, Institute of Dalit Studies, who works in this area, to give us a background note."
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