The fatal shooting of a visiting guru at a Sikh temple in Vienna sparked rioting across northern India today, with the Government calling in the army to help police restore order.

At least two people were killed and four injured when police opened fire on rioters who defied a curfew and army patrols by attacking police stations and torching cars, buses and trains, local officials said.

“The situation remains tense but under control,” said RK Jaiswal, senior superintendent of police in the northern city of Jalandhar.

Most of the violence was in or around Jalandhar, which is a stronghold of the Dera Sach Khand, a Sikh sect made up mainly of Untouchables, or Dalits, from the lowest level of the Hindu caste system.

A leader of the sect was killed and another preacher wounded yesterday when higher caste Sikhs wielding knives and a gun attacked the two at a Sikh temple that they were visiting in Vienna, according to Austrian police.

Guru Sant Rama Nand, 57, died in the night after an emergency operation. Guru Sant Niranjan Dass, 68, was in a stable condition, police said. Both had suffered bullet wounds.

At least 15 other people were wounded, including four of the attackers, who were eventually overpowered by worshippers, police said.

Witnesses said that the attackers were fundamentalist Jat Sikhs — traditionally the land-owning farmers in the northern state of Punjab — who accused one or both of the preachers of being disrespectful of the Guru Granth Sahib, Sikhism’s Holy Book.

Sikhism does not officially recognise caste and was founded partly to rebel against the system but the concept remains deeply rooted in Indian society, even among Sikhs, Christians and Muslims. The system divides society into hundreds of groups and sub-groups which for many Indians continue to define where one lives, who one marries, what job one does and many other things.

The Dera Sach Khand also differs from mainstream Sikhism on several religious issues, including worshipping living gurus such as Sant Rama Nand, which is considered blasphemous by most Sikhs.

At least some of the attackers were Austrian residents who had asked for asylum, prosecutors said. About 2,800 Sikhs were living in Austria in 2001, according to the last census.

Manmohan Singh, the Indian Prime Minister, who is also a Sikh, appealed for calm, saying that he was deeply distressed by the attack in Austria and the subsequent violence in India.

“Whatever the provocation, it is important to maintain peace and harmony among different sections of the people,” he said. “Sikhism preaches tolerance and harmony”.

SM Krishna, the new Foreign Minister, said that India was working with theAustrian authorities to “ensure that the perpetrators of this completely mindless and wanton attack are brought to justice”.

Sikhs make up less than 2 per cent of India’s nearly 1.2 billion people, the vast majority of whom are Hindus.

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