GURDWARA GIAN GODRI SAHIB: SGPC PANEL TO MEET U’KHAND CM
AMRITSAR : A high-level delegation of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) would soon meet Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat to seek possession of the site of the historic Gurdwara Gian Godri Sahib at Har Ki Pauri in Haridwar. The gurdwara was demolished in 1984 and is now dotted with commercial outlets and other buildings. For the past few years, the Sikh community is demanding that it be re-established there.
SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur who conducted a meeting of a sub-committee constituted on the issue at the SGPC headquarters on Monday, said, “The sentiments of the sangat are connected with the historic gurdwara. Efforts are being made by the SGPC to re-establish the gurdwara at Har Ki Pauri in Haridwar. For this, a delegation of SGPC would be meeting the Uttarakhand CM.”
She said she would also be part of this delegation.
The arrest of a 59-yearold Karnal farmer, Sukhdev Singh, for his alleged involvement in the January 26 violence at Red Fort, Delhi, has come as a shock to his family members.
“My father is a decent and law-abiding man. He has never been involved in any criminal activity,” said Amarjit Singh, the younger son of Sukhdev, claiming that not even a single member of his family has faced any police case.
He said that his father is associated with BKU (Charuni) and had gone to Delhi on December 26 and said that he will come only after the three farm laws are repealed.
“He was staying at Singhi border and used make phone calls to us regularly. I had talked to him three days before his arrest,” he added.
“On Sunday evening, I got a phone call from a cop of the crime branch of Delhi Police. They told me about my father’s arrest from Chandigarh. We don’t know how he reached Chandigarh from Singhu border,” he said.
Sukhdev owns 21 acre agricultural land at Sanghoi village and lives in a dera about 10km from Karnal with his family.
Amarjit did not rule out the possibility that his father had gone to the Red Fort. “Hundreds of farmers were at Red Fort. That doesn’t mean that he was involved in hoisting the Nisan Sahib,” he added.
KARNAL: Some unidentified miscreants have vandalised a statue of BR Ambedkar at Gharaunda town in Karnal. As per police, one arm of the statue was found broken. Soon after getting the information, members of Dalit communities reached the spot and staged protests demanding action against the miscreants. Protesters, led by Baba Saheb Ambedkar Yuva Samiti, alleged that CCTVS installed near the statue were non-functional. They threatened to intensify their agitation if police fail to arrest the culprits.
HT’S interview of Rakesh Tikait and Balbir Singh Rajewal establish that protesting unions are determined to prolong the agitation. The Prime Minister’s offer to suspend the laws for 18 months is not acceptable to them. They have dared to challenge the government because they are being provoked and protected by the hidden ‘hand’. The right to protest is not till eternity. Mutual trust and ‘give and take’ is the key to resolution of the issue.
Usha Verma Chandigarh