JALANDHAR/NEW DELHI/VIENNA: Two people were killed and eight injured as police fired at two places in Punjab during six hours of widespread violence by tens of thousands of followers of a Sikh sect after their leader was slain in faraway Austria.
Calm returned to the state only in the evening after the authorities summoned the military to assist the civilian administration as protesters indulged in widespread arson that saw the burning of an empty stationary train and three coaches as well as several private and public vehicles.
The violence was serious enough for the prime minister to make a special appeal to the people of Punjab to stay calm. “I am deeply distressed by the outbreak of violence in Punjab following certain incidents in Vienna. Whatever the provocation, it is important to maintain peace and harmony among different sections of the people,” the prime minister said in New Delhi.
“I appeal to all sections of the people in Punjab to abjure violence and maintain peace. In areas where curfew has been imposed, it is necessary that people should go back to their homes and allow the security forces to restore law and order,” he added.
Starting in the morning, mass protests and violence raged for some six hours in many parts of Punjab including Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Bathinda, Hoshiarpur, Patiala and Ferozepur and parts of nearby Haryana.
The authorities halted the Delhi-Lahore bus carrying Indians and Pakistanis at Ludhiana as a safety precaution. The Delhi-Amritsar highway and several state highways were blocked by mobs armed with sticks, swords and bricks. The protesters included a large number of women, many armed with bamboos.
They were protesting the murder of Sant Rama Nand, 57, the second in command of Dera Sach Khand, which brings together primarily the Dalit Sikh followers of the 14th century Guru Ravidass. Sant Rama Nand died yesterday in a hospital in Vienna of gunshot injuries sustained the previous evening when a man opened fire in a gurudwara in the Austrian capital.
As news of Sant Rama Nand’s death spread like wildfire, violence erupted all across Punjab, particularly in the areas of Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Phagwara, Hoshiapur, Amritsar and Patiala. Jalandhar came under curfew Sunday night following the first burst of violence. Curfew was also clamped in the towns of Ludhiana, Phagwara and Hoshiarpur.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal confirmed that two people were killed and eight others were injured in police firing in Jalandhar yesterday.
— With input from agencies
