GS PAUL
Tribune news service
Amritsar, October 25
Amid accusations and counter-accusations, a day after the confrontation between the SGPC working group and members of Sikh organizations protesting the missing saroops within the Golden Temple complex, the SGPC registered a FIR against 50-60 Sikh activists.
After this altercation that left at least 15 people on both sides injured, the protesters were disbursed and the place of the protest, in front of the Teja Singh Samundri Hall, was barricaded amid a heavy display of plainclothes policemen.
This was the second fight between the protesting Sikhs and the SGPC working group. On September 15, a nasty confrontation broke out when the SGPC task force intercepted some Sikh activists and organizations from Nihang who were to join the unrest outside Teja Singh Samundri Hall.
SGPC President Gobind Singh Longowal declared putting a ‘blanket ban’ on holding any protests within the Golden Temple complex in the future, blaming that it had happened under the patronage of Congressional leaders trying to vitiate the atmosphere. .
He said that armed with kirpan and sticks, they attacked members of our staff, including a ‘dharmi fauji’ and Sukhdev Singh Bhoora Kuna, an additional secretary, and damaged their vehicle.
Those registered under IPC Section 307,452, 148,149 included Sukhjit Singh Khosa, Dilbagh Singh, Manjit Singh Jhabbal, Baljit Singh Muchhal, Manjit Kaur, Lakhbir Singh, and 50 others.
These were the members of various Sikh teams, including the Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Committee, who held a sit-in in front of Teja Singh Samundri Hall since September 14.
Balbir Singh Muchchal, head of the satkar committee, called this a “biased” action, saying that the SGPC leadership has manipulated the episode of the confrontation in their favor, but that they would continue to challenge the SGPC for concealing the whereabouts of 328 missing saroops.
“The police were quick to file FIRs against us, but they never bothered to reach out to our members who were lying injured in the hospital,” Muchchal said.
On the other hand, Longowal blamed some of them trying to disrupt the traditional Golden Temple ‘maryada’, lounging around the Shrine complex in a drunken state, closing the entrance doors of Teja Singh Samundri Hall.
He believed that Congress sponsored members of the satkar committee to divert attention from the farmers’ protest against the farm laws.
“Ever since these so-called Sikh sympathizers sat down to protest, SGPC has been providing them with ‘langar’ and spare rooms to accommodate them. Our officials also started conversations with them several times, but they were never inclined to reach any conclusions and they had repeatedly engaged in fights with members of our staff and officials, ”he said.
