“We utterly condemn the desecration of holy Sikh scriptures in India and the subsequent police violence against the peaceful protesters which is against the fundamental rights of any democratic country”. The opposition Congress party has demanded that the state government be placed under direct federal control. ADGP crime IPS Sahota said the police has solved Faridkot, Sangrur, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Taran-Taran cases and has arrested six persons including a woman. The social fabric of Punjab must not be harmed.
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She minced no words to say that a “clear foreign hand” has been indicated and the State Government would expose those foreign hands which have been working to do this.
“We did not allow those people to accomplish their mission”.
On October 16, at village Batt in Tarn Taran district, pages of holy book were allegedly found torn and scattered at the village Gurdwara, where the chain of recitation of Guru Granth Sahib was going on, police said.
It used to be one of India’s high-growth states but years of misrule and mismanagement had seen GDP growth rates fall to nearly 6 per cent last year, whereas top states enjoy 11 per cent. There is also increasing unemployment and a deepening drug problem.
Sources said the Home Minister gave him a patient hearing and told him that he has already spoken to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and reviewed with him the prevailing situation in the state.
He stated the protests and forcible closures of markets organized by a few forces have been of no use as they harassed most of the people.
A report from Phagwara said several Sikh activists blocked Phagwara-Banga-Nawanshahar road near Mehlimudhali village, causing inconvenience to commuters.
The police said those involved in the sacrilege incidents belong to low income groups who were lured with money to desecrate the holy books and to incite the Sikhs. Indian Punjab police said that the alleged criminals apprehended have links with people in Australia and Dubai.
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Two baptised Sikh brothers, Rupinder and Jaswinder Singh, were arrested Tuesday for their alleged involvement in the Faridkot sacrilege incident, according to The Times of India.
