Anticipating that the controversy over the use of Holy book at protest sites could escalate further, the Akal Takht, the Supreme Body for Sikh religious matters, has set up a panel to examine whether the Holy Book should be taken to protest sites as had happened during the recent siege of the Ajnala police station. The panel comprising representatives of traditional Sikh sects, seminaries, organisations and scholars was constituted by the acting chief of the Akal Takht. The panel is expected to submit its report within 15 days. There are a large number of Sikh devotees who believe that the Holy book should never be used as a shield or at sites where demonstrations were taking place. Even Punjab Chief Minister, Bhagwant Singh Mann in a direct attack on radical preacher, Amritpal Singh has stated that those who use Guru Granth Saheb as a shield cannot claim themselves to be heirs of the State, a dig at the organization, “Waris Punjab de’’. The Punjab government and the police have come under fire for succumbing to pressure from Amritpal and his followers which led to the release of Lovepreet Singh Toofan, a supporter of the Khalistan movement. Senior officials have maintained that they did not use force to disperse the gathering at the Ajnala police station as it could have resulted in desecration of the Holy Book which was being used as a shield by the demonstrators. It has also come to light that the Punjab DGP, Gaurav Yadav in a presentation made for the Prime Minister and Home Minister, four weeks ago at the meeting of the police Chiefs, had flagged the rise of Amritpal Singh and those who were favouring the Khalistan movement. There have been counter allegations from a section of Punjab politicians which appears to be far-fetched, that the entire episode at Ajnala was engineered by Intelligence agencies and Amritpal was only a front of a mission which had multiple objectives. Amritpal had taken over the leadership role of the very little known organization, “Waris Punjab De’’ not too long ago. This outfit was founded by Deep Sidhu, an actor turned activist, who had led the protests inside the Red Fort during the Kisan agitation. Questions at that time were raised how Deep Sidhu could have gained entry into the high security Red Fort and that too on the Republic Day, without help from some quarters familiar with the access to the area. Sidhu died under mysterious circumstances on the Manesar Kondli Expressway in February last year. His brother has claimed that the family did not have support what Amritpal Singh has been doing. The issue is that if Amritpal indeed has a massive following and he managed to gherao the Ajnala police station, what was the Punjab police and various intelligence agencies doing. The fallout of what happened in Ajnala can be serious and the matter needs to be investigated by the National Investigation Agency, which is headed by Dinkar Gupta, a former DGP of Punjab and someone who is extremely familiar with the ground level situation. The Akal Takht is now attempting to resolve one aspect of the controversy but the threat from radical elements has to be taken seriously. There have been reports from other countries also how the Khalistani sympathisers have been attacking Hindu temples or have tried to disrupt peace. Punjab is a border state, extremely important to the security of the Nation. Both the State government and the Centre must work in tandem to prevent the matter from gaining momentum. People have not forgotten the aftermath of the Bhindranwale era and the situation cannot be allowed to repeat itself.
