VIENNA (AFP) — Sikh followers clashed with knives and at least one gun at a temple in Vienna on Sunday, injuring some 30 people in a dispute between rival religious communities, police and witnesses said. The violence at the temple broke out around 1:30 pm (1130 GMT) and saw the perpetrators pull out knives and a gun as a guru visiting from India gave a sermon. Others in the 200-strong audience at the temple pounced on the attackers and subdued them, police said. All of the attackers, who a witness said were wearing yellow and blue turbans, were arrested.
"Six people did not agree (with the sermon)," police spokesman Michael Takacs told Austrian public radio. "One drew a firearm, the others knives. The six people were overpowered by members of the community and seriously injured." One of the wounded attackers was fighting for his life after being shot in the head, said Takacs. [link]
Almost simultaneously, clashes broke out in India:
Jalandhar: Followers of Dera Sachkhand and various Dalit bodies on Sunday blocked traffic on the national highway in Jalandhar, damaged three buses and torched a vehicle soon after news regarding firing on Sant Niranjan Dass, the Dera head, in Vienna, Austria spread.
Activists of various Dalit bodies, including Ambedkar Sena and BSP, blocked vehicular traffic in Phagwara for nearly an hour on National Highway No 1 on the over-bridge near Sugar Mill crossing to protest the Vienna incident, police said. [link]
Meanwhile, there is no report on the progress of investigations into the alleged crimes of the Dera Sacha Sauda cult leader - Baba Gurmik Singh Ram Rahim. The alleged crimes include murder of a journalist and whistle blower, routine sexual exploitation of female inmates, instances of sexual assault at gun point.
It is quite curious how the caste system persists in every religion, for instance within Christianity, there is widespread discrimination. Church access is denied to people deemed to be from the "lower castes". The other minorities are a special case, it will require several posts to fully describe the curious situation there. People in denial will of course place all the blame on Hindus.
The fracture within the Sikh body of religion was artificially created. After centuries of relative cohesion, there is no reason the religion should break out into cults and start violent clashes within itself. In any case, these episodes are on the rise and the amount of discord appears to be proportional to the monies made available for group directed incentives.
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