Ravidassia March against Caste Discrimination by Sikhs. Crowd with black flags and Sant Ramanand banner
Ravidassia March against Caste Discrimination, Hyde Park, London. 6th June 2009 Currently the 175,000 or so in the UK Ravidassia community are included in our population statistics as Sikhs, but many of them hope to be listed as a separate religion in the 2011 census. On 24th May, a small group of Sikhs interupted the ceremonies in the Sri Guru Ravidass Temple in Vienna, Austria by shooting the two visiting preachers, leaders of Dera Sach Khand, based at Jalandhar in India. One of the men, Sant Ramanand, died later that evening, and the killing led to violent protests in India, particularly around Jalandhar, in which a number of people were killed and injured in battles between protesters and police. Sikhs accuse the followers of Ravidass of disrespecting the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh scriptures which Ravidassia also claim they regard as holy. Shri Guru Ravidas Ji was one of a number of holy men whose work was incorporated into the Guru Granth Sahib, along with the writings of six of the Sikh Gurus. He came from a low caste and was one of the first to stand up for equal rights for all people regardless of caste - something which became central to Sikhism. The several thousand from the Ravidassia Community around the UK (and a group from France) who marched through central London today to the Indian High Commission, see the continuing caste-based discrimination against them as the cause of the assassination. Their placards called for 'Human Rights', 'Freedom of Speech' and 'Justice', condemned the assassination of Sant Ramanand, called for the murderers to be hanged and demanded equal rights to worship. Ravidassia differ among themselves in the degree to which they follow Sikh religious practices, such as the 5 Ks of the Sikh Khalsa. Some of those at the march told me that they were Sikhs, while others stressed their separate identity. Banners carried by some on the march called for an end to the carrying of weapons including the Sikh kirpan.
Size: 5040px × 3347px
Location: Hyde Park, London, England, UK
Photo credit: © Peter Marshall / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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