Statement On Ravidassa

[s50]

FROM PANTHIC.ORG

According to Asociated Press (AP) reports, a witnesses said the Vienna temple attended by lower-caste (Ravidasis) was attacked Sunday by …(individuals)… who accused one or both of the preachers of being disrespectful of the religion’s Holy (Guru Granth Sahib Ji).

PW has received reports that one of the Ravidasi preachers had stated that the Holy Guru Granth Sahib Ji needed to be removed from the Temple, as it was not a (Ravidasi) Granth, however this could not be independently corroborated. Recently, a section of the Ravidasi community has started to adopt the so-called ‘Shri Guru Sikhya Sahib’ granth instead of the traditional parkash of Guru Granth Sahib Ji at various temples.According to the Ravidas Mission UK, the mission has adopted the ‘Shri Guru Sikhya Sahib’ as the Ravidasia religions holy Book.

The site states: “This holy book contains Guru Ji’s gospel and also many other contemporaries and disciples, who preached the absolute truth for spiritual sublime and personal enlightenment. This holy book contains passages from the holy book Ravidas-Deep, which was presented in the court during British rule in India in recognition of the Ravidasia religion and the ‘Ad-Dharam’ community.”

Could the open disrespect and call for Guru Granth Sahib Ji’s removal triggered the events?

According to Austria Police reports:

“We’re assuming that the content of the sermon was the trigger,” Werner Autericky, a high-ranking Vienna police official, told the Austria Press Agency Monday, adding that the motive was not definitive.

The attack set off a brawl that wounded 16. Police said they found a 9 mm pistol and several knives at the scene. It was unclear if some were kirpans _ ceremonial daggers that may legally be worn by Sikhs in Austria.

Two preachers identified by Indian diplomats as Sant Niranjan Das and Sant Rama Nand underwent operations for gunshot wounds and Nand died around midnight. The two clerics were visiting Vienna from India, police said, adding they had held services in the same temple on numerous occasions over the past few years without any reported problems.

The temple is housed in a residential building of the working-class neighborhood of Vienna-Rudolfsheim.

Ram said about 400 people were at the service when the fight broke out; police put the number at between 150 and 300.