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Author: Pioneer News Service
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: May 23, 2007
The bandh in Punjab on Tuesday was complete and peaceful, barring stray incidents in certain remote areas.
The bandh was called by the Akal Takht to protest the alleged blasphemous act of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh, posing as Guru Gobind Singh.
The threat of disturbance, however, still persists since the Akal Takht has also given an ultimatum to the Dera to vacate all deras by May 27.
The hardliners took out protest marches and raised slogans of Khalistan in Amritsar and several other towns. "The bandh was completely peaceful and essential services were maintained", claimed Harcharan Bains, media adviser to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.
Normal life was badly hit as shops and other business establishments, educational institutions remained closed and public transport remained off the roads. Attendance in offices was thin. The trouble, however, spilled to Haryana and Jammu where protests were held by Sikhs.
Several Sikh protesters were injured in Ambala in Haryana where police cane-charged to disperse them. At least ten persons, including Ambala Superintendent of Police Amitabh Dhillon and two constables, were injured in stone pelting outside Gurdwara Badshah Bagh when about 500 Sikhs, most of them youth, and the police came face to face.
Elaborate security arrangements were in place to maintain peace. Security forces were seen patrolling different areas. Heavy deployment was made in Bathinda, Moga, Muktsar and other areas in the Malwa belt, which has a sizeable number of Sacha Sauda supporters. The dera in Salabatpura in Bathinda district was fortified by security forces where hundreds of dera followers had taken shelter.
The rail services in the State functioned normally except four DMU trains cancelled on the Jalandhar-Hoshiarpur section. The Government and private buses remained off the road causing inconvenience to commuters. Scores of Sikh activists blocked the busy Ludhiana-New Delhi rail route but it was soon cleared by police.
About 200 followers and activists of various Sikh religious organisations assembled at Gurdwara Bibi Kahan Kaur in Moga and later took out a silent peace march in the town. They staged a 'dharna' at the railway station, but when a train arrived they lifted the blockade. Sikhs took out peace processions in different parts of Jalandhar city, singing sabad kirtan and distributing sweet water.
A religious procession was taken out in Amritsar whereby the Sikhs thanked people for participating in the bandh. About 25 members of Panthic organisations were taken into custody by the police when they tried to stage a dharna at Rampura Phul town, a report from Bathinda said. Among them was the head of a gurdwara in Rampra Phul.
In Amritsar Putlighar area, a group of around 30 Sikh youth forcibly closed the business establishments and interrupted vehicular traffic for half an hour. Sikh youth also raised slogans of Khalistan and Bhindranwale Zindabad while carrying naked swords. It all happened in the presence of paramilitary forces, which watched the scene as mute spectators.
However, Sikh organisations, Akali Dal Mann and Damdami Taksal, interrupted the rail traffic for ten minutes.
All the educational institutions, private and Government, were also closed as per the orders issued by the District Magistrate Amritsar.
The bandh in Patiala was by and large peaceful. The activists of SAD Amritsar led by Bagicha Singh scuffled with the Punjab Police in Samana town in this district.
Trouble started when activists of SAD (A) gathered in local gurdwara and started raising slogans on the loud-speaker. Police immediately cordoned off the gurdwara and asked activists to leave the premises. Some activists started pelting stones on policemen resulting in minor injuries to constable of Punjab Police Harjit Pal Singh.
A complete bandh was observed in district Fatehgarh Sahib. No untoward incident occurred in the district during the day.
Information & Public Relation Minister Bikram Singh Majithia thanked the people of Punjab for maintaining peace, communal harmony and traditional Punjabi brotherhood during the bandh.
Meanwhile, normal life was disrupted in Jammu region on Tuesday as all business establishments and schools remained shut due to the bandh.
Traffic was off the road in the region as the Pathankot-Jammu-Srinagar national highway was closed by the protesters amid burning of the effigies of the Dera chief.
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