There is a lot going in the state of Punjab however, it is not clear to the common public as the powerhouses of Punjab are hiding it under the covers. We are just making an effort to disclose the whole matter for you, describing the whole matter step by step:
In 2007 – The Dera Chief, Gurmeet Ram Rahim wore a dress which was very similar to the dress of Guru Gobind Singh, which didn’t went well with Sikh Gurus as they felt that the religious sentiments of the Sikhs have been hurt by this act of Dera Chief.
In June 2015 – Somebody stole Guru Granth Sahib from the Burg Jawahar Gurudwara which is near to village Bargadi. For Sikhs, Guru Granth Sahib is not just a Holy Book but also a living guru, police didn’t took the complaint seriously and no investigation was done by them.
At present, a handwritten note was found pasted in the village which says that the Holy Book is with the anonymous writer of the note and in the last of the note, “Dhan Dhan Satguru”, is written. This phrase is chanted by the Dera followers, it is also said that abusive language has been used in the note against the Sikh gurus and complete Sikh society.
In September, 2015 – The Head Priests of Akal Takht surprised everyone when on 24th September they forgive the Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim for whatever he did in 2007. It was seen as a political strategy of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) to bring Dera on its side in order to gain advantage in the Punjab elections which are due next year.
In October, 2015 – Amidst all this religious controversy, a Rail Roko campaign was launched by the farmers against the Government’s insensitivity towards the plight of farmers. The large amount of crops in Punjab were damaged due to the attack of white fly and many farmers committed suicide as they were not able to handle the monetary loss. Farmers demanded Rs.5 lakhs for the each family of the farmers who have committed suicide and this movement disrupted the transport system of the whole state and a great inconvenience was experienced by the public.
On October 12th – The farmer’s issues took a backstage when some torn pages of Guru Granth Sahib were seen in Bargadi. As per Avtar Singh Makkar, the President of Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee, these torn pages belong to the same Holy book which was stolen from Burg Jawahar Gurudwara. The Sikh community was shocked and disrespected with this incident and some Sikh organizations such as Simranjit Singh Mann-led Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) & Sikh Sangharsh Committee called for a Bandh as a protest.
The peaceful protests which were led by Panth Preet Singh and Ranjeet Singh Dhadrian , were organized in Korkapura and Behbal Kalan to show their support for the Sikh community and pressurize the government to start an investigation and bring the culprits to the law.
In an unprecedented move, next morning police started using tear gas and lathi-charge on the public who were doing peaceful protest, the photos that came from the location depict police cruelty upon common public. Police arrested many people, while 80 got injured and 2 died in these incidents.
On October 17th – When the situation seems to going out of control, Akal Takht made a U-turn and revoked the forgiveness given to the Dera Chief. An emergency meeting took place of the five high priests of Sikhs at the Takht Seretariat, which is in the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar, Gurbachan Singh, Akal Takht jathedar Giani said, “As a consensus within the Panth on the pardon granted to the dera head could not be reached, the ‘gurmata’ (religious decree) stands withdrawn.”
Police also released all the protestors who were arrested by them as per the directions of Sukhbir Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab.
Now the questions are being asked that whether the state government has the capability to control the situation in Punjab or not. Farmers are also waiting to get their issues addressed by the government while government is facing difficulty in handling the matter of religious sentiments.
Sociologist and activist, Prof. Manjit Singh is of the opinion that government should submit their resignation as they are a complete failure when it comes to making situation in state normal. He says, “Badals have appropriated Panthic institutions such as the SGPC and SAD and the Akal Takht. Had it not been the case, Punjab would not have faced this crisis”.
The Intelligent group of Sikh community feels that this crisis may not have even taken place if the there would have been transparency and accountability in the functioning of Sikh institutions, especially the religious institutions.
There is a fear growing up that whether Punjab is moving towards the same scenario as of 1980 and are the politicians more concerned with their vote bank or state’s peace and prosperity. The citizens of Punjab now want the government to tell the people of what all has taken place between them and the Dera Chief.
The Chief Minister has written a letter to Akal Takht, in which he talks about the “deep pain” that he is experiencing after all these incidents in Punjab. At present, we can just wait and observe how the government control the situation and maintain peace in the state. The whole India wants that peace and prosperity prevails in Punjab.
All the Sikh Organizations in Malaysia are strongly protesting against the Beadbi of Sri Guru Granth. Here’s a video for the same:
[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwTbqBIR4QM&feature=youtu.be[/yt]
Click here to watch this video directly on YouTube
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