India's northern Punjab state tense after killing of Sikh leader

May 26, 2009, 8:08 GMT

   New Delhi - Authorities prolonged a curfew Tuesday in major cities of India's northern state of Punjab, which saw an outbreak of violence following the killing of a Sikh leader in the Austrian capital Vienna two days ago.

   Police in Punjab's capital Chandigarh said the death toll in the violence had risen to three after a protestor was killed by a councilor of the ruling Akali Dal party who opened fire when he was attacked in Jalandhar city Monday night.

   The towns of Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur and Phagwara remain under curfew and army was patrolling the streets to prevent any violence.

   Protestors have been clashing with police since late Sunday and set ablaze train coaches, buses and cars following an attack on two top leaders of the Dera Sach Khand sect in a Sikh temple in Austria.

   Sect head Niranjan Dass and his deputy Rama Nand Dass were attacked with knives and firearms.

   While Niranjan Dass is recovering in hospital after emergency surgery, Rama Nand Dass died of gunshot wounds.

   The sect that adheres to the Ravidass Sabha movement mostly has followers among the Dalit or low-caste Sikhs.

   Three people have been killed and at least 10 injured in the violence that saw supporters of the sect defying curfew and attacking scores of vehicles in central Punjab where the sect has a large following.

   The situation was described as calm but tense on Tuesday.

   At least 40 long-distance trains scheduled to run through Punjab have been cancelled, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.

   Most roadblocks set up by protestors have, however, been removed and traffic on major highways is being monitored by the police.

   Punjab chief minister Prakash Singh Badal has called a meeting of all political parties in state capital Chandigarh to discuss the volatile situation.

   Badal's Akali Dal represents mainstream Sikhs who largely belong to the land-owning Jat caste.

   Sikh historians say deras, or sects, like Sach Khand arose from a feeling of discrimination among Dalit converts to Sikhism.

   There are several such sects, across the northern states of Punjab and Haryana, with many Dalit Sikh followers.

   Mainstream Sikhs often consider those sects as deviating from the true Sikh religion and practices.

   Their differences have often resulted in violence. Clashes between Sikhs and another sect, the Dera Saccha Sauda, left several injured over the last two years.

   The Sikh religion developed in the early 16th century as a reaction to the rigid strictures of Hinduism.

   Sikhs constitute less than 2 per cent of India's 1.1 billion people, of which 80.5 per cent are Hindus.

   Most Sikhs in India live in Punjab which has a Sikh-majority population.