05-26-2009, 08:38 AM
<b>Via Vienna, Sikh caste war returns, sets Punjab aflame</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->At the centre of the conflagration is a <b>battle for the control of cash-rich overseas gurdwaras and an assertion of religious identity by Dalits who form roughly 29 per cent of Punjabâs three crore population â the highest density of Dalits in any Indian state.</b>
Till a few months ago, Vienna had just one gurdwara on Rudolphsheim Street, controlled by radicals loyal to Khalistan, a separate Sikh homeland.
With the Dera Sach Akhand, a Jalandhar-based sect that follows the teachings of guru Ravidass (the 14th century founder of the Ravidassia sect) setting up a gurdwara on the same street, radicals saw red.
<b>The new shrine took away a chunk of devotees and offerings</b>. Tempers frayed when sect head Niranjan Das was attacked on Sunday, <b>allegedly by pro-Khalistan Sikhs</b>.
What ratcheted up tensions was the news of the death of Sant Ramanand, a senior disciple of Dera Sach Khand, which has a considerable following among Dalit Sikhs.Â
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Till a few months ago, Vienna had just one gurdwara on Rudolphsheim Street, controlled by radicals loyal to Khalistan, a separate Sikh homeland.
With the Dera Sach Akhand, a Jalandhar-based sect that follows the teachings of guru Ravidass (the 14th century founder of the Ravidassia sect) setting up a gurdwara on the same street, radicals saw red.
<b>The new shrine took away a chunk of devotees and offerings</b>. Tempers frayed when sect head Niranjan Das was attacked on Sunday, <b>allegedly by pro-Khalistan Sikhs</b>.
What ratcheted up tensions was the news of the death of Sant Ramanand, a senior disciple of Dera Sach Khand, which has a considerable following among Dalit Sikhs.Â
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