Asking the Congress led Punjab Government to get serious and act fast, the Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal on Monday said that there has been a significant and worrying increase in the number of “heinous acts of sacrilege against the sacred Guru Granth Sahib” since the Congress government took over in the state.
“I wish to remind those in power now that a vast majority of such cases which took place during SAD-BJP tenure had been quickly traced and dealt with. Only a few incidents proved to be difficult and defied probe. Even in those cases, we had picked up significant leads and were on the verge of a breakthrough when elections were announced and the Government changed,” said the former Deputy Chief Minister.
Sukhbir said that before demitting office, the previous SAD-BJP government had handed these leads to the new government to make it easier for them to act quickly. “But they seem to be sitting lazily over these as they appear busy in other things like distributing loaves of office and profit. That has emboldened the dangerous elements. The government must act fast,” he asked.
He reminded those in the Punjab government now that before the elections, they used to blame the SAD-BJP government for these acts and “accused us of not acting fast enough for that reason…Now, what is stopping you from actingIJ”
“The Congress had made tall claims of solving these cases within days of taking oath of office. While the SAD-BJP government put all its energies into fighting and defeating these conspiracies, the present government seems to be totally casual and unconcerned about the gravity of the situation,” he alleged.
It is both the moral duty and constitutional obligation of the present state government to stop these acts and to resolve the old cases,” he added.
A day before, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh had expressed shock and anguish on the unfortunate incident of burning of Birs in the Gurudwara in Aulakh village in Muktsar district.
Capt Amarinder ordered a magisterial probe into the incident, asking Muktsar ADC to conduct the inquiry and submit his report within two days.
Before this, several incidents of sacrilege of religious books have been reported from across the State.