Sikhs Protest World Over Against Desecration Of Holy Book And Police Brutality In Punjab

By Countercurrents.org

18 October, 2015
Countercurrents.org

Sikhs protested world over against the desecration of Guru Granth Sahib ‘bir’ at Kotkapura and police brutality in which two people were killed in police firing. Protests were held in Canada, UAE, Afghanistan and many other places around the world.

The incident took place on Wednesday, 14th October. The protesters were demanding the arrest of those responsible for tearing off more than 100 pages of the Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari village, 15km from Kotkapura in Faridkot district, India on Monday. These pages were torn allegedly from a ‘bir’ that was stolen from a nearby village, Burj Jawahar Singh Wala, in June.

On Wednesday morning, police opened fire at protesters at Behbal Kalan village, 10km from Faridkot, in which Gurjit Singh (27) of Sarawan village and Kala Singh (54) of Niamiwala Khurd village in Faridkot were killed.

Clashes also took place in Kotkapura that left more than 45 persons, including 24 policemen, injured. Among those injured was Inspector General of Police (Bathinda range) Jatinder Jain. The police resorted to canecharge, used water cannons and fired into the air to disperse more than 3,000 people who had assembled at an intersection in the heart of Kotkapura since Tuesday afternoon to protest the desecration.

Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal ordered a judicial inquiry by a high court judge to probe the desecration incident and its aftermath, besides assuring Punjabis that exemplary punishment would be awarded to perpetrators of the “dastardly act”. Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal announced Rs 1-crore reward to any person giving information leading to the arrest of those who committed the act of sacrilege.