Damdami Taksal, Muslim group extend support to Bargari protest
Taksal chief Harnam Singh Dhumma and parallel jathedar Dhian Singh Mand share dais
BARGARI(FARIDKOT): Sikh seminary Damdami Taksal and a Muslim outfit on Friday extended their support to the Bargari protest started by the radical Sarbat Khalsa-appointed parallel jathedars since June 1.
In a first, Damdami Taksal chief Harnam Singh Dhumma and parallel jathedar Dhian Singh Mand shared the dais during the protest at Bargari.
Also, a Muslim group from Bargari led by Imam Mohammad Salim Khan too extended its support to the protest. The imam said that Guru Granth Sahib is common to all religions and they demand justice needs to be done.
The Damdami Taksal had refused to take part in the ‘Sarbat Khalsa’ (congregation) at Chabba village in Amritsar in 2015.
Dhumma visited Bargari along with former Akal Takht jathedar Jasvir Singh Rode. Later, Rode said they needed to come on a single platform as the Bargari issue is of the entire community and they must keep their difference aside to get justice.
“The state government must take the issue seriously and put the culprits behind the bar or we will continue the protest,” said Rode, who is nephew of militantpreacher Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who was killed in Operation Bluestar in 1984.
Dhumma thanked Mand for starting the protest to bring the Sikh community on a single platform.
He warned the government that it should resolve the issue before the situation gets out of control. Dhumma demanded the Justice Ranjit Singh commission public be made public and action should be taken against police officers responsible for the Behbal Kalan firing.
Questioned about his proximity to the Shiromani Akal Dal (Badal), Dhumma said the desecration issue is above everything else. On June 6, a delegation led by parallel jathedar of Takht Damdama Sahib Baljit Singh Daduwal had held a meeting with Punjab CM on the issue.
SIKH PREACHERS WHO LED 2015 STIR SLAMMED
Without naming anyone, Harnam Singh Dhumma said the Sikh preachers, who led the protest at Bargari in October 2015 were confused and didn’t want to take all Sikh religious institutions together.
“Now, we should go hand in hand,” he said. In October 2015, Sikh preachers Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwale and Panthpreet Singh Khalsa were at the front of the protest against the then SAD-BJP government.
Meanwhile, Punjab cabinet minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa said, “We have been trying to resolve the issue and have asked the jathedars to wait for the report of the Justice Ranjit Singh commission. The guilty will not be spared.”
CM ISSUES WARNING TO DAMDAMI TAKSAL OVER ‘THREAT’ TO PREACHER RANJIT DHADRIANWALE, CAUTIONING IT AGAINST TAKING LAW IN HANDS