Austrian Sikh Temple Attack Sparks Riots In India

`The situation remains tense but under control,` said senior superintendent of police R.K Jaiswal.

Two people died in protests in the Indian state of Punjab on Monday and demonstrators torched vehicles and shops after a Sikh preacher was killed in an attack on a temple in the Austrian capital Vienna.

Authorities imposed a curfew on parts of Punjab and troops were deployed to violence-hit areas after people mainly from the Dalit or "untouchable" community protested against the Vienna incident.

Two people were killed and eight wounded in two separate incidents, Punjab chief secretary Ramesh Inder Singh said.

One victim was shot by troops when a crowd attacked a village police station. Protesters also blocked state highways.

The riots started in reaction to news that at least 16 people were hurt in Vienna on Sunday when six armed men attacked two preachers visiting from India during a temple ceremony.

Guru Sant Rama Nand, 57, died from bullet wounds after an emergency operation, police said. The second, Guru Sant Niranjan Dass, 68, is in a stable condition.

POLICE IN DARK ABOUT MOTIVES

Two attackers were also shot in the fight that ensued when worshippers overpowered them. They are still in intensive care.

Two more were severely wounded and hospitalised and two others are now in police detention.

Austrian police said they did not know yet about the motives for the attack.

"We assume that emotions escalated because of the content of the sermon," said Werner Auticky, head of the Vienna anti-terror department.

Dass had preached in Vienna before and there had been no incidents then, he said.

Three of the attackers were residents and had previously asked for asylum in Austria, while the identity of the other three was not yet clear, police said. Around 2,800 Sikhs lived in Austria in 2001, the time of the most recent census.

SOCIAL, RELIGIOUS TENSIONS

The guru who died was from the Dera Sach Khand, a religious sect which draws large support from the lower class Dalit community and is considered separate from mainstream Sikhism.

Sikhism officially rejects caste but social hierarchies still prevail in the state, and followers who protested from the Dera Sach Khand identified themselves as from the Dalit caste.

Activists from a powerful political party, which draws its support mainly from Dalits, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), have joined the protests.

On top of being popular among the lower castes, Dera Sach Khand also differs from mainstream Sikhism on religious points, some of which draw the ire of pious Sikhs, analysts say.

"The Dera Sach Khand follow a living guru which Sikhism cannot accept at all," political scientist Parmod Kumar said.

"Sikhs react strongly to this and that is why the clashes between the Dera followers and mainstream Sikhs occur."

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called upon people in Punjab to maintain peace.

The riots caused U.S. retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc to postpone the launch of its first cash-and-carry store in India, which was scheduled to open in Punjab on Tuesday.