Two die in Punjab riots in wake of Sikh guru’s killing

TWO protesters were killed in India’s Punjab state yesterday in fierce rioting sparked by the shooting dead of a guru in fighting between rival Sikh communities in Austria, police said.

The two men were killed in separate incidents when police opened fire to disperse angry crowds who rioted in cities and towns across the north-western state.

They were protesting against the death of Sant Rama Nand, who was killed by fellow Sikhs in a temple in the Austrian capital of Vienna on Sunday as he addressed 200 worshippers.

Demonstrators in Punjab torched four train carriages in the city of Jalandhar, police said, despite a curfew imposed to halt the violence.

Curfews were also in place in the cities of Phagwara and Hoshiarpur, with more than 900 troops deployed to control the situation.

In Amritsar, Sikhism’s holiest city and home to the Golden Temple, police fired tear gas to control crowds after protesters torched dozens of buses and smashed windows. About 12 people were injured.

“One person was killed at Lambra village by the army bullet and another one was shot dead at Jalandhar by police in order to control the mob,” a police officer who declined to be named told reporters.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, himself a Sikh, said he was “deeply distressed” by the attack on the guru and issued an appeal for calm.

Sant Rama Nand, 56, died and 16 other people were injured in Vienna during the temple attack, which was reportedly over a dispute about the role of castes in the Sikh religion.

Vienna police said that six Indian men who lived in Austria had been arrested over the pre-planned assault. Four of the alleged attackers were in a critical state in hospital.