“Cannot Bluntly Condemn”: Sikh Frame Leader On Alleged Sacrilege, Killings
Harjinder Singh Dhami is the President of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee
New Delhi:
The mob killing of 2 males accused of desecrating Sikh spiritual sentiments in Punjab’s Amritsar and Kapurthala weren’t “easy incidents” and “now not a question of mere condemnation”, Harjinder Singh Dhami, the top of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, informed TTN NEWS Monday night time.
Mr Dhami refused to denounce the brutal killing of the 2 accused – the person who died in Kapurthala had no less than 8 “deep, sharp cuts” on his neck and frame, conceivable inflicted by means of swords, a senior clinical officer informed information company PTI – and mentioned he may now not “bluntly condemn the incident”.
“It isn’t a easy incident. It’s associated with the Guru Granth Sahib and now not simply any social offense. We can not bluntly condemn the incident (the dying of the 2 accused) as it comes to the emotions and religion of the Sikh other folks…” he informed TTN NEWS.
.@OnReality_Check | “We can not bluntly condemn that incident (Punjab killings) as it comes to the emotions and religion of the Sikh other folks,” says Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) President Harjinder Singh Dhami, on #Punjab killings. #NDTVExclusivepic.twitter.com/dbutSOm2Dc
— TTN NEWS (@TTN NEWS) December 20, 2021
“This wasn’t the primary sacrilege incident,” Mr Dhami mentioned, including, “In all of the incidents of ‘beadbi‘, or sacrilege, until date, not one of the accused were convicted… It isn’t a easy incident.”
.@OnReality_Check | “In all of the incidents of ‘beadbi’ until date, not one of the accused were convicted… It isn’t a easy incident,” says Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) President Harjinder Singh Dhami, on #Punjab killings. #NDTVExclusivepic.twitter.com/bWiN4KOC83
— TTN NEWS (@TTN NEWS) December 20, 2021
The reference was once to the 2015 sacrilege and police firing case, which stays a vastly arguable subject in Punjab and one the Congress’ Navjot Sidhu has often used to hammer each his personal party in addition to the opposition Shiromani Akali Dal and BJP, that have been in energy on the time.
Mr Dhami additionally perceived to declare the mob killings had been in ‘self-defense’; “The rule of thumb of protection states that if any person tries to assault… you’ll be able to counter-attack as neatly,” he mentioned.
He did, alternatively, additionally say: “The topic must be first enquired… then motion must be taken.”
Except the SGPC, politicians in Punjab – from the ruling Congress to opposition events just like the AAP and BJP – have additionally been reluctant to sentence the deaths, conscious about a doubtlessly disastrous backlash from Sikh electorate in Meeting elections due in February-March.
Sidhu demanded that the ones accused of sacrilege be publicly hanged; it’s unclear if he was once relating to other folks merely accused of this type of crime or the ones discovered in charge after being attempted in a courtroom of regulation.
This week two males, who stay unidentified thus far, had been killed by means of mobs at Amritsar’s Golden Temple and in Kapurthala after allegedly desecrating Sikh spiritual sentiments.
The primary killing was once on the Golden Temple – a person in his early 20s jumped into the enclosure the place the Granth Sahib is stored. He was once noticed selecting up a golden sword as monks rushed to overpower him.
He was once crushed to dying.
Not up to 24 hours later, in Kapurthala, a person was once brutally assaulted after villagers claimed to have stuck him making an attempt to take away the Nishan Sahib (the Sikh flag); he was once to start with taken into police custody however savage scenes ensued after the mob fought with the law enforcement officials and attacked the person with sticks.
The police later took him to a health center the place he was once declared useless.
In step with police, the incident seemed to be a case of robbery, now not sacrilege. “There are not any visual indicators of a sacrilege strive,” Kapurthala police leader GS Dhillon mentioned these days.
Just one FIR has been filed thus far – in the case of the alleged sacrilege. Police mentioned some other were filed towards the attackers, however briefly reversed their remark, pronouncing they wanted additional information.
The alleged desecration and deaths come as Punjab preps to vote in an election poised on a knife’s edge, with the ruling Congress struggling with to retain regulate within the face of defections, the possibility of an Amarinder Singh-BJP alliance, and loyal barbed assaults from inside of – from Navjot Sidhu.
