Riots flare in India after Sikh sect leader killed in Austrian temple

• Mobs attacks police stations, buses and banks in Punjab region
• India's Sikh prime minister 'deeply distressed' by disturbances

Associated Press
guardian.co.uk, Monday 25 May 2009 17.10 BST

India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, appealed for calm , as riots prompted by the fatal shooting of a sect leader at a Sikh temple in Austria spread to several northern Indian cities.

Hundreds of people defied a curfew and army patrols, attacking police stations and torching the car of a senior officer and several trains. In two places, police opened fire on mobs, wounding at least four people, according to officials.

The violence centered on the city of Jalandhar, a stronghold of the Dera Sach Khand, a Sikh sect comprising mainly Dalits (formerly known as "Untouchables"). One person was killed when troops opened fire on a mob attacking a police station in Lambran village, according the state's top elected official, Parkash Singh Badal.

The violence followed the news that a leader of the Dera Sach Khand was killed, and another preacher wounded, in Vienna last night, when several Sikh men armed with knives and a handgun attacked the two during a visit to a temple. At least 15 other people were wounded, Austrian police confirmed.

Witnesses said the attackers were fundamentalist Sikhs from a higher caste, who accused one or both of the preachers of being disrespectful of the Sikh holy book – the Guru Grant Sahib.

While officially Sikhism does not recognise caste – the complex system prevalent among mainly Hindus in India, dividing people into hundreds of groups defined by livelihood, class and ethnicity – it remains deeply rooted.

Singh, India's first leader to belong to the Sikh faith, said he was "deeply distressed" by the attack and subsequent violence. "Whatever the provocation, it is important to maintain peace and harmony among different sections of the people," he said, adding: "Sikhism preaches tolerance and harmony."

The foreign minister, SM Krishna, said India was working with the Austrian authorities to "ensure that the perpetrators of this completely mindless and wanton attack are brought to justice".

lastnight, after news of the Vienna attack, hundreds of Dera Sach Khand followers, supported by other local Dalit organisations, took to the streets of Jalandhar, burning several vehicles and a bank, stoning buses and blocking railway lines and roads.

Sporadic violence was also reported from several nearby towns, said Sanjiv Kalra, a senior police official at Jalandhar, some 210 miles (337 km) north-west of New Delhi. Today morning, about 400 soldiers patrolled the area and police set up roadblocks across the city. Initially it appeared that the move had restored calm, but later protests spread to at least five nearby cities.

"Curfew in the entire district has been extended for an indefinite period and five columns of army have been deployed to control the violence," a local government official, A S Pannu told the Press Trust of India news agency.Sikhs make up less than 2% of India's nearly 1.2 billion people, the vast majority of whom are Hindus. Caste discrimination has been outlawed in India for more than a half century, and a quota system was established with the aim of giving Dalits a fair share of government jobs and places in schools. But their plight remains dire, living in poverty and kept down by ancient prejudice and caste-based politics.

with thanks : Source : http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/25/india-sikh-riots-killing-austria

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Pak Hindus, Sikhs rubbish jazia reports

Want to return to Swat after peace returns
Varinder Walia
Tribune News Service


Members of the DSGMC at Attari-Wagah joint check post after their return from Pakistan on Sunday. Photo: Vishal Kumar

Amritsar, May 24
The 13-member Indian delegation, led by Paramjit Singh Sarna, president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), which returned from Pakistan today after meeting Hindus and Sikhs displaced from the Swat valley, rubbished the media reports that Taliban had imposed jazia (protection tax) on the members of the minority communities there.

After meeting the displaced Hindus and Sikhs at Gurdwara Panja Sahib, Hassan Abdal, Sarna said most of the Sikhs did not want to migrate to India since they love Swat, considered paradise on earth. Swat is an administrative district of the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan. In December, most of its area was captured by Taliban.

Sarna said more than 22 lakh Muslims had fled from Swat. Most of the 3,100 displaced persons, who had taken refuge at Gurdwara Panja Sahib, only 50 or 60 families were of Sikhs. The government of Pakistan has been taking extra care of the displaced persons belonging to the minority communities. “Each displaced family has got at least Rs 30,000 each relief from the government so far,” said Sarna. The Pakistan government and a number of non-government organisations have joined hands to collect donations in the name of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) by placing donation boxes at the reception of major hotels and other business establishments. Many relief camps for the Muslim IDPs have mushroomed in Pakistan to accommodate about 22 lakh Muslims.

Many displaced Hindus and Sikhs wanted to go back to Swat after normalcy since they consider the valley not only a land of attractive beauty but also historically significant.

The delegation also met senior officials of the Government Pakistan government to seek permission to send relief worth Rs 2 crore. Sarna has urged the government to allot land to the displaced Hindus and Sikhs at Nankana Sahib.

Sarna told mediapersons at Attari today that Pakistani Sikhs were happy over the election of Dr Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister for yet another term of five years. He said Pakistani Sikhs wanted that any of the family members of Dr Manmohan Singh should visit Pakistan to meet them who had prayed to Almighty for giving Dr Manmohan Singh to serve the country for another term.

To a question, Sarna said the DSGMC would definitely participate in the coming general elections of the Shiromani Committee. He alleged that the SGPC and the ruling SAD failed on all religious fronts as they did not bother to visit Pakistan to know the plight of the displaced Sikhs.

with thanks : source : http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090525/main6.htm

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Punjab tense after night of violence, army called in

Punjab tense after night of violence, army called in
IANS

Towns in Punjab remained tense on Monday morning after a night of violence on Sunday by members of a Dalit Sikh sect protesting a clash in a gurudwara in Austria's capital Vienna.

District authorities in Jalandhar, which saw the maximum violence, requisitioned the army and the Border Security Force (BSF) late on Sunday night even as the Punjab Police was out on the streets in full force to control the rampaging mobs belonging to the Sachh Khand sect, followers of Guru Ravi Dass Sabha.

The entire Doaba belt (the area between rivers Sutlej and Beas) comprising Jalandhar, Phagwara, Nawanshahr and Hoshiarpur towns were tense throughout the night. Jalandhar and Phagwara were the worst hit areas. Unrest was also reported from the industrial city of Ludhiana, 60 km from Jalandhar.

Although no one was injured in the clashes, scores of public and private vehicles were set ablaze by the protestors in Jalandhar and Phagwara. A State Bank of India ATM was also set ablaze in Jalandhar.

Many people were stranded on the roads after the violence broke out.

On Sunday, several people were injured in a fight between two rival factions of the Sikh community at a Gurudwara in the Austrian capital. Some of the injured were in a critical condition, the Austrian police said.

The incident took place during a sermon by two guest priests from India.

According to reports, several bearded and turbaned men equipped with at least one firearm stormed the shrine during sermon. In the melee, members of the congregation pounced upon the attackers and overpowered them, beating some severely.

Meanwhile, the security has been beefed up in several parts of Punjab after the protestors went on a rampage.

Curfew has been imposed in Jalandhar, which continued on Monday morning, even though the police claimed the situation was brought under control.

"The situation turned bad and we have requisitioned the army, BSF and the Punjab Armed Police units to control the situation," said Sanjiv Kalra, inspector general of police (IG), Jalandhar range.

The protestors also clashed with the police at some places in Jalandhar. The protestors blocked roads and highways around Jalandhar and in the nearby industrial town of Phagwara.

"It is a very serious situation. Curfew has been imposed in Jalandhar City following the violence. Road and rail traffic has been affected," Kalra told IANS.

Railway traffic through Jalandhar, including the New Delhi-Amritsar Shatabdi train, was affected as protestors blocked rail tracks.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal condemned the Vienna incident and urged people in Punjab to remain peaceful. He urged the central government to take up the matter with the Austrian government so that the guilty were punished.

The government blacked out the television news channels in the state to ensure that the violence did not spread to other parts after seeing the images on TV.

Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) president Avtar Singh Makkar also condemned the Vienna attack and urged people to maintain peace in Punjab.

with thanks : source : http://indiatoday.intoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=43628§ionid=4&secid=0&Itemid=1&issueid=107

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30 injured in Vienna gurudwara shootout: Officials

Press Trust Of India
Vienna, May 24, 2009

At least 30 people were injured, nine of them seriously, when rival Sikh groups clashed with each other using knives and a handgun during a sermon in a gurudwara in Vienna.

Police said nine people were severely wounded when members of two families started shooting at each other. Five people suffered head shots and stab wounds, Austrian Press Association said in a report on its website.

Police spokesman Michael Takacs said five men entered the Gurdwara early this afternoon and started firing at those present. Five suspects have been arrested, he said.

Austria Press Agency quoted a witness Jasuf Kalden as saying that the fight erupted after a dispute over the sermon, given by Guru Ravidas Sabha.

Police said at least six men, one wielding a gun and the others knives, attacked the preacher. Others rushed to his aid, resulting in the melee.

The Gurdwara is situated in Vienna-Rudolfsheim, the capital's 15th district.

The wounded were evacuated in three helicopters to several hospitals, rescuers said.

"All the people implicated in the incident have been arrested," Takacs said.

with thanks : source : http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=HomePage&id=82a04a07-7fc9-4691-9f45-e96ec5d1701b&ParentID=3b47b34b-d035-414b-b847-e283a121495c&Headline=30+injured+in+Vienna+gurudwara+shootout%3a+Officials

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Twist in Tytler case, wife of victim wants to be heard

24 May 2009, 0410 hrs IST, TNN

NEW DELHI: A woman, claiming to be the wife of one of the deceased in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, surfaced on Saturday in court pleading that she
should be heard while deciding on the CBI's closure report giving a clean chit to former union minister Jagdish Tytler.

Lakhwinder Kaur, widow of deceased Badal Singh who was killed during the carnage, moved an application through her counsel Rebecca M John before the court demanding a right to be heard before the court. "The injured or aggrieved parties do have a right to be heard. The investigating agency is bound to give notice to such parties and if they fail to do so, the court is bound to hear us as settled by the Supreme Court,'' John added. The counsel also claimed CBI never approached the widow during its investigation into the case.

The CBI, on the other hand, opposed their plea saying they had no locus standi in the matter. Further, the CBI said that the case was filed against unknown persons. "We have recommended prosecution of one accused Suresh Kumar Paniwala. Nobody was named in the FIR. It is only on the recommendation of Justice Nanavati Commission that we investigated role of Tytler and filed closure report finding no evidence against him,'' CBI counsel A K Srivastava submitted. CBI also argued on jurisdiction of the court.

CBI counsel Srivastava, who tried to attribute motives to petitioners by saying why they did not approach them before as it was a 25-year-old case, was strongly opposed by the petitioner's counsel alleging that he wanted to score brownie points. A protest petition was also filed by Kaur challenging CBI's closure report. Kaur also sought a copy of CBI report.

While reserving the order on Kaur's plea for June 3, additional chief metropolitan magistrate (ACMM) Rakesh Pandit, "Let me think. This is a very tricky thing. Its an academic issue for me and my five years of experience is at stake. I need some time to consider it.

Meanwhile, counsel H S Phoolka who has filed a defamation case against former union minister Jagdish Tytler, opposed the Tytler's plea seeking permanent exemption from personal appearance in the case before ACMM Ajay Pandey, saying "nobody is above law.''

Tytler is accused of making defamatory remarks against the lawyer in programmes telecast by news channels in 2004. He was granted bail by the ACMM on April 18 after the case was transferred from Ludhiana by the apex court at his request.

Taking the reply of Phoolka, who is fighting court cases for victims and family members of 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the court fixed July 18 for hearing arguments on the plea. The Congress leader had sought permanent exemption from personal appearance during the court proceedings on the ground that being a public figure, he has to perform manifold duties on a regular basis.

with thanks : source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Delhi/Twist-in-Tytler-case-wife-of-victim-wants-to-be-heard/articleshow/4570146.cms

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Guru Nanak Daata Baksh Lai Mission:

Guru Nanak Daata Baksh Lai Mission, founded in 1999 by Brig. Partap Singh Ji Jaspal (Retd.), is at the forefront of promoting universality of Sikhism and its Divine Content, embracing the whole mankind as one global family of the sole beloved God. It reaches out to the world through the mediums of internet, TV channels, audio and video productions, and book publications. The mission seeks no publicity and serves the whole global community in the firm belief of oneness of godhood and oneness of the mankind. This mission is purely a labor of love of a family group and is based at 203, Sector 33-A, Chandigarh.

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1984 anti-Sikh riots: Court reserves order on plea of victims

1984 anti-Sikh riots: Court reserves order on plea of victims
23 May 2009, 1658 hrs IST, PTI

NEW DELHI: A Delhi Court on Saturday reserved its order on the petitions of victims of 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, pleading they should be heard while deciding the alleged involvement of former union minister Jagdish Tytler in it.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Rakesh Pandit fixed June 3 for pronouncement of the order on the application filed by riot victims as well as Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee that the court should decide their right to be heard in the matter.

Senior Counsel H S Phoolka, appearing for the victims, said the victims had a right to be heard in the matter.

During the argument, CBI counsel A K Srivastava questioned the jurisdiction of the ACMM Court and said the matter be referred to the Sessions court.

CBI had on April 2 sought to close the case against Tytler, claiming there was no sufficient evidence against him.

Tytler (65) was also given a clean chit by CBI on September 28, 2007, after the agency failed to trace Jasbir Singh, a key witness in the case.

However, the court had refused to accept CBI's closure report and directed the agency to further investigate the case in December 2007, compelling the agency to send its officials to the United States to record the Singh's statement.

Tytler resigned as union minister of the UPA government in 2005 in the wake of the Justice G T Nanavati Commission report indicting him for his alleged role in the riots.

The case relates to an incident on November 1, 1984, when a mob set afire Gurdwara Pulbangash in Delhi killing three persons.

Singh, the witness, had told the Commission on August 31, 2000 that "he had overheard Tytler rebuking his men on the night of November 3, 1984...for nominal killing of Sikhs in his constituency."

with thanks : source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/1984-anti-Sikh-riots-Court-reserves-order-on-plea-of-victims-/articleshow/4569483.cms

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Manmohan Singh takes oath as PM

with thanks : source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videoshow/4566145.cms

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Manmohan Singh takes oath as PM for 2nd term

22 May 2009, 1838 hrs IST, AGENCIES

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday took oath along with 19 Cabinet colleagues to begin his second five-year term at the head of a multi-party government in which his Congress party is the overwhelmingly dominant partner after a sweeping win in general elections.

There were four new faces in the first edition of the Union Cabinet that is expected to be followed up by another expansion of the Council of Ministers in the next few days. All the others were in the outgoing Cabinet. All but two were from the Congress party.

Overseen by President Pratibha Patil, Manmohan Singh, 76, was the first to take oath at a simple and brief function at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. This is the first time she has administered the oath of office.

Among the new entrants in the Cabinet were Mamata Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress leader who trounced the Communists in West Bengal, Rajasthan Congress unit president CP Joshi, Congress general secretary M Veerappa Moily, and former Karnataka chief minister S M Krishna.

The portfolios were not announced but speculation centred around two names as the next foreign minister -- Kamal Nath, who has been a successful commerce and industry minister and who led the developing nations' charge in the WTO negotiations; and Krishna, who was in many ways responsible for making Bangalore the country's IT capital.

Pranab Mukherjee, who was external affairs minister in the last Cabinet, is widely tipped to become finance minister, a portfolio he held 25 years ago, while Chidambaram and Antony are likely to retain their respective portfolios of home and defence.

The prime minister's A-team comprises Pranab Mukherjee, Chidambaram, Antony, Krishna, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Veerappa Moily, S. Jaipal Reddy, Kamal Nath, Vayalar Ravi, Meira Kumar, Murli Deora, Kapil Sibal, Ambika Soni, B.K. Handique, Anand Sharma and Joshi.

Besides Mamata Banerjee, the other non-Congress leader who found Cabinet berth was Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar.

The oath taking ceremony in the Rashtrapati Bhavan was attended among others by Vice President Hamid Ansari, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and BJP leader L K Advani. Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, former Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Lalu Prasad, Ram Vilas Paswan and service chiefs were also present.

Performance, experience and continuity have been the important criteria that have gone into the making of Manmohan Singh's new Cabinet, say party insiders. The Prime Minister has already chalked out a 100-day action plan for his government.

"In the case of Moily and Ghulam Nabi Azad, they served the party well and were also instrumental in notching up impressive victories in key states," said a senior Congress functionary.

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said the second round of oath taking will cover include Cabinet ministers, ministers of state with independent charge and ministers of state with representation given to allies.

Anand Sharma, who earlier was a minister of state for external affairs and also held independent charge of the information and broadcasting ministry after Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi was hospitalised with a stroke, was promoted to Cabinet rank.

So was Bijoy Krishna Handique, who is from Assam and was the minister of state for chemicals and fertilisers and parliamentary affairs.

Heavyweight Arjun Singh has been dropped from the Cabinet, and not just because of his poor health. Some of his decisions as human resource development minister have been questioned and he has been accused of sitting over important decisions in the field of higher education, a subject close to the Prime Minister's heart. Arjun Singh is likely to be made a state governor.

Mamata Banerjee is likely to get railways, a portfolio she has held earlier in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, while Pawar is set to retain his food and agriculture portfolio.

"I am happy that both the Prime Minister and the Congress president have recognised my work and that I discharged my work creditably," said Vayalar Ravi, who held both parliamentary affairs and the overseas Indian affairs ministries.

Joshi, who turned the fortunes around for the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan by leading the praty to victory in 19 of its 25 seats, admitted he was surprised to get a cabinet berth. "I am humbled and thank the party leadership for reposing faith in me."

After the failure of talks with the DMK on the distribution of ministerial portfolios, crisis managers in the Congress thought it would be best to go ahead with the first round of oath taking where sure-shot Cabinet ministers would be included.

With the DMK insisting on seven ministerial berths - three Cabinet, two ministers of state (MoS) with independent charge and two other MoS - Congress managers decided they would engage in another round of discussions to arrive at a compromise formula.

The DMK is making a bid for key ministries including surface transport, railways, IT and communications and tourism.

"By this weekend we will sort out matters on berth allocation with DMK. And in the next round we also have to include the youth brigade," said a senior official in the Prime Minister's Office.

Those expected to be inducted in the second round include Salman Khurshid, Jairam Ramesh, Girija Vyas, Vilas Muttemwar and National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah.

Manmohan Singh will retain the portfolios he was planning to allocate to DMK nominees till differences with the key ally are sorted out.

with thanks : source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Manmohan-Singh-takes-oath-as-PM/articleshow/4564549.cms

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Sikh delegation led by Sarna crosses over to Pakistan to meet PM and President

JAGMOHAN SINGH
Thursday, 21 May 2009
AMRITSAR: Thirteen members delegation led by Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president Parmajit Singh Sarna Thursday went to Pakistan to take up the matter of Hindu and Sikh families who were rendered homeless by the Taliban in Pakistan’s in the North Western Frontier Province (NWFP) in Swat valley.

Sarna before crossing over to Pakistan said that he along with his delegation of senior executive of DSGMC were going to Pakistan to meet Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari to take up the matter of Hindu and Sikh families who were still turning pillar to post for two square meals after being rendered by Talibans.

Sarna said, “We have plan to meet Pakistan’s prime minister and President with regard to the adequate arrangement of Homeless Sikh and Hindu families for their rehabilitation besides economic help. Presently most of the uprooted families were taking shelter at various
Sikh shrines in Pakistan including Nankana Sahib, Panja Sahib and Gurdwdara Dera Sahib”.

Sarna said that DSGMC has passed resolution to contribute help of Rs. 2 crore and would seek permission from Pakistan authorities to disburse amount among the affected families. Sarna said that they were on fifteen days visa to Pakistan.

Earlier on May 1, SGPC (Shriomani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee) President Avtar Singh Makkar in letter to Prime Minister Dr. Mamnmohan Singh has urged him to force Pakistan Government to protect Sikh minority against fiendishness of Talibans.

Makkar in his letter said that the barbarous activities of Talibans have committed another outrage of pulling downs houses of innocent Sikh families in Pakistan in retaliation to the refusal of Sikhs to pay jazia.

It may be mentioned here that last month on April 30 Taliban outfit had demolished 11 homes of members of the minority Sikh community in Pakistan's troubled Aurakzai tribal region after they failed to pay jiziya or a tax levied on non-Muslims.

Sikhs were rendered homeless on the orders of Taliban commander Hakeemullah Mehsud, the head of the militants in Aurakzai Agency and a deputy of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud. The militants acted after a deadline set by them for payment of jiziya by the Sikhs expired on April 30. Sikhs were living in Aurakzai Agency for centuries; the Taliban asked them earlier this month to pay Rs 50 million a year as jiziya. The militants claimed this was being done as Shariah or Islamic law had been enforced in the area and all non-Muslims had to pay "protection money".

There are about 35 Sikh families living in Ferozkhel near Merozai in Aurakzai Agency.

with thanks : source : http://www.punjabnewsline.com/content/view/16762/38/

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Twenty five years of hatred & Dr. Manmohan Singh.

After twenty five years of hatred, Sikhs are looking ahead, towards Congress just because of the Charishma of Dr. Manmohan Singh. After 1984 riots the Sikh Bastians were converted into BJP strongholds. The traditional vote bank of congress was turned into strongholds of BJP.

But the elevation of Dr. Manmohan singh not only healed the sentiments of Sikhs in India, it also gave the nation a most learned prime minister under whose leadership India got the successive growth of 9% for four consecutive years and even in times of the worst recession, it attained a growth of 6%. Today, Congress has won, because every one is looking towards Dr. Manmohan singh as the best reformist. Indeed, it was the fruitful decision taken by Mrs. Sonia Gandhi.

Dr. Manmohan singh must, now, cultivate a feeling amongst the masses that India is a most secular country where riots of any kind are totally BARRED. Hope the two national partys, will realise that Indian’s are now educated & mature enough to cast the vote only for the PROGRESSIVE GOVERNMENT and not for 1984 or Godhra. JAI HO.

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