CHANDIGARH: Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs Jathedar (High Priest) Giani Harpreet Singh, on Monday gave a 24-hour ultimatum to the Punjab government to release all the Sikh youths arrested in last 10 days in connection with the crackdown on pro-Khalistani leader and Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh.
Speaking in a meeting held in Amritsar, Singh said that the Akal Takht would start Khalsa Vehir (religious procession) against drugs and patriarchy and to make Sikh youths Amritdhari. He also demanded that the National Security Act (NSA) imposed on all the Sikh youths should be immediately revoked.
Members of over 50 Sikh organisations, including those from Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (HSGPC) attended the meeting. Singh said if the government does not end the atmosphere of terror by releasing all the youth within 24 hours, a campaign will be started diplomatically in the country and abroad against bullying of the Sikhs.
Singh alleged that a serious and diplomatic siege is being carried out by the state against the Sikhs, which should be answered diplomatically without being violent. “There is a need to create collective capacity among Sikhs. On one hand, in this democratic and communally diverse India, announcements are made to create a Hindu Rashtra by suppressing the minorities, but no action is being taken against the people who make such provocative statements while governments do not take long to impose black laws on Sikhs who present their views within the framework of democracy,’’ he said.
He added that legal action will be taken by Sikh organisations against the character assassination of Sikhs by the government through the national media. He said that the flag and symbols of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s state and the Sikh princely states were wrongly portrayed as the flag of Khalistan by the Punjab Police and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee (SGPC) was ordered to take strict legal action against those concerned police officers.
He asked the Sikhs to put signs of the Khalsa state on their vehicles and houses to stop the government’s propaganda against flags and symbols related to the heritage. Meanwhile, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Harjinder Singh Dhami announced setting up a panel of lawyers who will take up cases of Sikh youth booked under the National Security Act and provide other legal assistance to them.
Earlier, Harpreet Singh had requested Amritpal Singh to surrender before authorities and participate in the inquiry. Dal Khalsa had recently written a letter to the Jathedar. It stated: “Asking Amritpal to surrender does not behove you. This is not the concern of Akal Takht Jathedar as per the Sikh point of view. You are not the custodian of the law and order but of Sikh principles and maryada. You did not take a clear stand on the Ajnala incident during which objections were raised over carrying the Guru Granth Sahib to the police station and then you passed its responsibility onto the Sikh bodies. Our complaint is that you have shown laxity in fulfilling responsibility twice in the matter of the recent incidents. As the time passes, such decisions become a mere formality and bear no impact.”
Ravi Singh, chief of Khalsa Aid, an NGO, recently in a statement had said that the targeting of Sikh youth in Punjab is once again causing huge concern in the Sikh community across the world. Shiromani Akali Dal said the AAP government had become a party to defame Punjab and asked the government to come clean on the reasons for the arrest.
‘Will start campaign against bullying Sikhs’
Jathedar of Akal Takht Giani Harpreet Singh said in a meeting that if the government does not end the atmosphere of terror by releasing all the youth within 24 hours, a campaign will be started diplomatically in the country and abroad against bullying the Sikhs. Singh alleged that today a serious and diplomatic siege is being carried out by the state against the Sikhs,