Sikh riots in India

May 21, 2007

This story is from the Independent in London. Does anyone know

anything more about this Baba Gurmeet Singh?

i am very curious...

sat nam

dev atma singh

santa fe

Cult leader sparks Sikh riots with 'guru' stunt

By Jerome Taylor

Published: 21 May 2007

The Indian state of Punjab has been set alight by some of the worst

rioting in a decade after a newspaper advert placed by the leader of a

controversial religious sect sparked outrage in the region's Sikh

community.

One person was killed and more than 50 were injured after tens of

thousands of angry Sikhs, many armed with their ceremonial kirpan

daggers, went on the rampage across Punjab and the neighbouring state

of Haryana.

India's Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, appealed for calm and put the

army on standby as the central government sent thousands of police to

the region.

The rioting broke out after the Dera Sacha Sauda sect, a non-profit

group that combines social work with spirituality, placed an advert in

a local newspaper showing its leader, Baba Gurmeet Singh, allegedly

impersonating Sikhism's 10th and last guru, an act most Sikhs would

consider deeply offensive.

The advert appeared to show Gurmeet Singh administering a special

nectar, known as Jaam-e-Insaan, to his followers while wearing the

same long robes worn by the guru, Guru Gobind Singh - who was also

known to baptise believers with nectar. Unlike Islam, where picturing

the Prophet Mohamed is strictly forbidden, most Sikhs believe it is

permissible to picture their gurus, and families often place a picture

of the religion's founding father, Guru Nanak Dev, somewhere in their

homes. But pretending to be a guru is strictly forbidden.

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