Ludhiana: Even before it could get back to normal after Friday's violence by labourers, Ludhiana is on the boil again - this time because of tensions between two rival Sikh groups.
Hard-line Sikhs groups, up in arms against the government’s decision to allow Austhosh Maharaj of Dera Noormahal conduct satsang (religious discourse) in the city, clashed with the police and some Dera followers today.
The protestors - numbering 700-800 & wielding swords - were marching to the satsang venue located on the main highway to Chandigarh, when the police stopped them, following which they attacked the police force and tried to break through the barricades.
Unable to control the situation, the police tried using tear gas shells to disperse the infuriated mob of Sikhs; failing, the police fired in the air. One person reportedly died in the clashes.
At least 10 vehicles, including of the police, were damaged by the protesters on the Ludhiana-Chandigarh road.
The radicals had also asked Ashutosh Maharaj not to conduct satsang, as they feel that his teachings go against tenets of Sikhism and degrade the Gurus. But the Dera went ahead with its plans and thousands of followers converged at the venue this morning, infuriating the conservative Sikh followers.
Ashutosh of the Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan in Noormahal is one of the most popular Deras and has, reportedly, more than 25 lakh followers in the country and abroad.
Ashutosh has been, for some time, facing the ire of the Sikh community. But he has been consistently denying that he ever tried to degrade the Sikh religion. His followers say that it was preposterous to question Ashutosh’s activities as a vast majority of his followers were Sikhs, who would not allow any tampering with the Guru Granth Sahib “bani”.
More...
Hard-line Sikhs groups, up in arms against the government’s decision to allow Austhosh Maharaj of Dera Noormahal conduct satsang (religious discourse) in the city, clashed with the police and some Dera followers today.
The protestors - numbering 700-800 & wielding swords - were marching to the satsang venue located on the main highway to Chandigarh, when the police stopped them, following which they attacked the police force and tried to break through the barricades.
Unable to control the situation, the police tried using tear gas shells to disperse the infuriated mob of Sikhs; failing, the police fired in the air. One person reportedly died in the clashes.
At least 10 vehicles, including of the police, were damaged by the protesters on the Ludhiana-Chandigarh road.
The radicals had also asked Ashutosh Maharaj not to conduct satsang, as they feel that his teachings go against tenets of Sikhism and degrade the Gurus. But the Dera went ahead with its plans and thousands of followers converged at the venue this morning, infuriating the conservative Sikh followers.
Ashutosh of the Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan in Noormahal is one of the most popular Deras and has, reportedly, more than 25 lakh followers in the country and abroad.
Ashutosh has been, for some time, facing the ire of the Sikh community. But he has been consistently denying that he ever tried to degrade the Sikh religion. His followers say that it was preposterous to question Ashutosh’s activities as a vast majority of his followers were Sikhs, who would not allow any tampering with the Guru Granth Sahib “bani”.
More...