Buttar Kalan (Moga) – Kotkapura remained tense for the second day on Tuesday over the desecration of a ‘bir’ of Guru Granth Sahib. Thousands of protesters re-assembled for a dharna at the main chowk of the town, about 12km from Faridkot, after the police allegedly rounded up more than 200 of them around 2:30am on Tuesday and released them in the morning.
More than 100 Angs (pages) of Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji had been found scattered in a street leading to the gurdwara at Bargari village, 15km from Kotkapura, on Monday. These pages had been allegedly torn from a ‘bir’ that was stolen from Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village, about 5 km from Bargari village, in June.
Sources said police rounded up protesters to prevent radical Sikh leaders from starting an ‘akhand paath’ on the spot with the torn pages brought from Bargari village. Cops took the pages, kept in a ‘palki’ (palanquin) on a tractor trolley, to an undisclosed place. The protesters were reportedly taken to Muktsar, Moga, Ferozepur, Bathinda and Faridkot.
Prominent among those sitting on a dharna are Sikh preachers Baba Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwala and Bhai Panthpreet Singh Khalsa, former Takht Damdama Sahib jathedar Giani Kewal Singh and Damdami Taksal Ajnala head Amrik Singh Ajnala. On Tuesday afternoon, radical Sikh leader Baljit Singh Daduwal also reached Kotkapura to join the protest.
Speaking to Media at the protest site, Surjit Singh Arian Wala, executive district president of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), said, “We have been protesting in a peaceful way since June 1, when a ‘bir’ was stolen from the nearby village of Burj Jawahar Singh Wala. But no action was taken against the accused.”
“On the intervening night of September 25-26, a handwritten poster was pasted near the Burj Jawahar Singh Wala gurdwara, in which foul language was used against the Guru Granth Sahib. Now we are holding a peaceful protest here and it would be called off only when the police arrest the accused,” he added.
Meanwhile, traffic was disrupted in the district as some protesters also blocked the Bathinda-Kotkapura road near Behbal Kalan village. There was heavy deployment of police from several districts in Kotkapura.
Faridkot senior superintendent of police (SSP) Sukhminder Singh Mann, who talked to the protesters, said the situation in the district was peaceful. “We took the protesters into custody only to persuade them to discontinue the agitation. We are probing the case thoroughly.”
“A special investigation team (SIT) headed by deputy inspector general (DIG), Ferozepur, Amar Singh Chahal and including the SSPs of Faridkot, Moga and Ferozepur has been set up to investigate all aspects of the case,” he added.
Additional director general of police (ADGP, law and order) Rohit Choudry also visited Faridkot on Tuesday to take stock of the situation.
Sant Samaj calls for Malwa bandh tomorrow
Damdami Taksal head Harnam Singh Dhuma-led Sant Samaj has called for Malwa bandh on October 15 to protest the alleged sacrilege of a ‘bir’ of the Guru Granth Sahib in Bargari village of Faridkot district.
The incident resulted in violence on Tuesday with clashes erupting between police and residents of the area.
Talking to HT, Dhuma said the bandh has been called to put pressure on the government to view the incident seriously. “Those responsible for the sacrilege of the scripture should be arrested immediately,” he added.
The bandh will be observed in Faridkot, Moga, Fazilka, Ferozepur, Muktsar, Bathinda and Barnala. However, health services have been kept out of its purview.
Dhuma, meanwhile, has asked the Sikh community in the Malwa belt to maintain peace during the bandh.