Six days after suicide, Khalsa’s body cremated

FRESH DEADLINE Hardliners give govt time till Mar 29 to fulfil their demands, including suspension of two station house officers

KURUKSHETRA: Six days after Sikh rights activist Gurbaksh Singh Khalsa committed suicide by jumping off a water tank, Sikh hardliners finally cremated his body at his native village Thaska Ali in Kurukshetra district on Sunday.

Earlier in the morning, Sikh leaders including Dhian Singh Mand, Baljeet Singh Khalsa and Amrik Singh Ajanala, who were agitating for action against Kurukshetra superintendent of police (SP), deputy superintendent of police (DSP) and the station house officers (SHOS) of Jhansa and Ismailabad whom they accused of forcing Khalsa to jump off the water tank, refused to cremate the body demanding a written assurance from the government.

When BJP’S Assandh MLA Bakshish Singh Virk reached the spot to attend the cremation, the hardliners asked him for a written assurance from the government, following which he left. After three hours, Virk again returned to the village and convinced the hardliners to cremate the body.

Following the assurance, the Sikh hardliners decided to go ahead with the cremation but said that the leaders of the community will not hesitate to move the court against the government if the demands are not met.

“We will wait till the Bhog ceremony on March 29 to take the further course of action,” said Ramandeep Singh Bhangchari, a Sikh leader. He also appealed to the members of the community to reach Gurdwara Lakhnor Sahib, Ambala, in large numbers for the Bhog Ceremony.

A senior officer of the Kurukshetra district administration told HT that the SHOS of Jhansa and Ismailabad police stations have been transferred out of the district but no decision on their suspension or the transfer of the SP and DSP has been taken yet.

Sikh leaders on Sunday said that they did not demand the transfer of SHOS but it seems that the government was not ready to accept any of their demands except a magisterial inquiry, which they have given in written.

It is pertinent to mention here that Khalsa’s body was kept in a freezer at his residence for the past six days and several Sikh hardliners have been camping in the village since he committed suicide on March 20.

In the past three days several meetings took place between the Sikh leaders and representatives of the government but the Sikh hardliners remained adamant on getting a written assurance on their demands, following which the Kurukshetra DC handed them a letter marking magisterial inquiry into the incident. Some Sikh leaders were also reportedly chanting pro-khalistan slogans when they were going to cremate the body.