With protests continuing in several parts of Punjab after incidents of sacrilege of a holy book, paramilitary forces were on Tuesday deployed in four worst-affected districts of the border State as a precautionary measure.
The decision was taken as Sikh outfits, continued to stage dharnas at several places in the State against incidents of sacrilege, blocking traffic.
A senior Punjab Police official said the Border Security Force (BSF) has been deployed in Amritsar, Jalandhar, ludhiana and Bathinda districts. A total of ten companies of the BSF have been sent to these districts keeping in view the sensitive situation. With the BSF’s deployment, roadblocks at some places, including Jalandhar, Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts were removed and traffic was restored. Motorists had to face inconvenience across Punjab in the past week due to the roadblocks at multiple locations.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday regarding the ongoing agitation in the State.
The Punjab Government has sought 25 companies of paramilitary forces from the Central Government to contain the ongoing protests since October 12.
The Opposition Congress party has demanded that the State Government be placed under direct federal control.
“We have demanded that the Punjab State Government be dismissed and President’s Rule be imposed. They are no longer capable of ruling,” said Sunil Jakhar, leader of the Congress party in Punjab.
Meanwhile, top officials of Punjab convened an emergency meeting on Tuesday to try to defuse days of violent protests set off by the desecration of a Sikh holy book.
Chief Minister Badal told reporters that “certain forces” were out to sow trouble but declined to provide details. “Certain forces are behind all this. Some agencies are responsible for what is happening. They want to disturb the peace in the State,” said Badal, after calling together the State’s top leaders to look for a way to calm the situation.
The protesters are demanding action against those who desecrated the Sikh holy book. The Punjab Police had arrested a granthi (preacher) in Amritsar and a woman in ludhiana district for the desecration of the holy book.
Meanwhile, tension prevailed in Gurusar Village of Bathinda district on Tuesday when, in a fresh incident, torn pages of the Guru Granth Sahib were found. DIG Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh said that an FIR has been registered against the three youths at Police Station Verowal. He claimed that the man caught by the villagers had done no harm to the Gurdwara or Guru Granth Sahib.
However, after nabbing the man, the villagers instead of handing him over to the police, had taken him away to be handed over to the self-styled ‘Satkar Committee,’ the DIG said.
Meanwhile, protest by Sikh activists against unabated incidents of sacrilege in different parts of State continued by way of blocking State and National Highways, police said. It said patrolling has been intensified even as SGPC members are keeping a vigil on holy books placed in various gurudwaras in the State.
Punjab is under turmoil after series of incidents of sacrilege of ‘birs’ (religious scriptures) of holy Guru Granth Sahib, first reported early this month from Bargari Village in Faridkot which led to a violent clash between Sikh protesters and police leaving two persons dead.
Administrators of gurdwaras have tightened security in the chambers where the holy texts are kept. An Opposition lawmaker resigned from the State Assembly and three leaders resigned from the State’s ruling party, saying not enough was being done to investigate the October. 11 desecration.
Anger spiked after police fired into a crowd of protesters, killing two men. Amar Singh Chahal, a top police official, said police opened fire after protesters had pelted the police with stones and set two police jeeps ablaze in Faridkot district. An investigation has been launched, he said.