THERE are fewer than 3,000 Sikhs in Austria –but even among this tiny number there are bitter sectarian differences that led to the killing yesterday of a preacher in a temple in Vienna.
Guru Sant Rama Nand, 57, died from gunshot wounds after an emergency operation. A second, Guru Sant Niranjan Dass, 68, is in a stable condition. He too had been shot.
At least 15 other people were wounded when six armed men attacked the two preachers visiting from India with a gun and knives during a ceremony in the temple.
According to this report, four of the attackers were severely wounded, two of them critically, when they were overpowered by worshippers. The other two were only lightly wounded and are in police detention.
At least some of the attackers were Austrian residents, who had previously been given asylum in Austria.
Sikh's priotesting in the Punjab over guru's murder
As a result of the attack, thousands protested in the Indian state of Punjab today, torching a train, vehicles and shops. Authorities imposed a curfew on parts of the state, and the army was put on standby after members mainly of the Dalit community protested.
Austrian news agency APA quoted temple officials as saying members of rival temples had threatened violence if the guru was allowed to preach in Austria. Police denied they had been warned of a possible attack.
The guru who died was said to be from the Dera Sach Khand, a religious sect which draws large support from the Dalit community and is considered separate from mainstream Sikhism. It differs from mainstream Sikhism on several religious points – a source of annoyance to pious Sikhs, analysts say.
Dr Parmod Kumar, a political scientist, explained:
Sects like the Sach Khand broadly follow Sikhism but make their own diversions and as such cannot be included in Sikhism. The Dera Sach Khand follow a living guru which Sikhism cannot accept at all. Sikhs react strongly to this and that is why the clashes between the Dera followers and mainstream Sikhs occur.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
May 25th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
I couldn`t care less about the finer points of doctrine that separate all these various sects. This ridiculous and quite inexcusable incident just serves to illustrate once again the total irrationality of religious belief, and the way this influences human thought and behaviour!
May 25th, 2009 at 11:55 pm
Don't you just love it while the dopy dickheads are killing each other over something that doesn't exist, as long as they don't kill some poor inocent bystander who bloody cares what they do to each other, in fact it should be encouraged.
May 26th, 2009 at 8:00 am
JK's comment is remarkably unhelpful and does him no credit. Yes, the world would be a better place without faith-baseless beliefs stirring the pot; but a decent future with such nonsense removed from it will remain just as mythical if we are forced to co-exist with the socially retarded, whether they are atheist or not. John, it's the meaningless violence-mongering we are trying to get away from, and your attitude here – even if you are just spouting hate for the sake of it – suggests that the universal departure of religious self-deceivers would only leave a gap in your "thinking" that you would have to fill with some other target.
May 26th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
The Sach Khand is not the only sect that diverts from Sikhism by following a 'live guru'. The difference is that these people represent a low-caste.
The indian govt should step in quickly and get a handle on the violence before it rips up punjab….but perhaps this is what they want. Manmohan Singh should step up.
May 26th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
The Telegraph reports Manmohan Singh as saying the "the religion is based on tolerance and that "revered gurus of Sikhism preached the values of equality, brotherhood and harmony".
So it's just another religion of peace. No problem then, right?
May 26th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
This is bad, very bad. We should show little maturity and wise ness. Disturbing general people and destroying our own property is really shame. Nobody is gonna get anything from this.
One more religion crap. Stop this Please……
May 26th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
I am assuming from the wording of your post that English is not your first language so I may be in danger of misunderstanding you. But while I agree that John Klasen may be a little out of order and that needless death is always a tragedy, I have to agree with sailor1031 by saying that I firmly believe that all religion is contemptable, poisonous nonsense and that the world would be a better place without it.
These people are actually murdering each other about issues that are utterly trivial, that in the real world don't matter the tinyest little bit. Just one more religion, just as crap, just as pointless, just as false as all the rest and just as important that you kill anyone who gets it even the slightest bit wrong.
May 30th, 2009 at 7:36 am
"At least 15 other people were wounded when six armed men attacked the two preachers visiting from India with a gun and knives during a ceremony in the temple."
Beware of men with six arms.
Okay, my bad. That's Hindu, not Sikh.
I'll see myself out, thanks.
June 3rd, 2009 at 12:18 am
Hello all. You all have your own veiws on religon. Some of you clearly dont no anything about religon and dont follow 1, so you should not disrespect something you no fuck all about! People in india believe strongly in religon and follow the priests word. If you doubt this you should go to india or see a indian priest wherever you are and tell him to go fuck himself and see what happens to you bitches!!
black magic
June 20th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
The media has misreported the murder and subsequent demonstrations as a matter of caste discrimination, but the conflict is much more complex in reality:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DiMATp2o3w