Justice Ranjit panel report to be tabled in monsoon session: CM

1st part of report on Bargari incident and Behbal Kalan firing was submitted to the CM on June 30

CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh has said that the Justice Ranjit Singh (retd) Commission report on sacrilege cases in the state will be tabled in the next session of the Vidhan Sabha and legal action will be taken against all those found guilty by it.

Radical Sikh organisations have been protesting at Bargari from June 3, seeking that the government must make the report public. Sarbat Khalsa appointed Akal Takht Jathedar Dhian Singh Mand and Takht Damdama Sahib jathedar Baljit Singh Daduwal are leading the stir there. A Punjab Police Special Investigation Team (SIT) has arrested a few Dera Sacha Sauda followers as conspirators of the sacrilege, with the Central Bureau of Investigation now investigating the case.

Interacting with party leaders, including, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Rana Gurjit Singh, Kikki Dhillon and Pargat Singh, Amarinder said, “The government has received the first part of the report, which is under legal scrutiny. The remaining parts of the report are expected soon. The complete report, along with the action taken report, will be tabled in the assembly.”

The Amarinder-led Congress government had set up the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission in April 2017 to investigate incidents of sacrilege of the holy Guru Granth Sahib and other religious texts and the “incriminating” police firing on protesters.

The government had also rejected the findings of the Zora Singh Commission that the previous SAD-BJP government had set up to probe these cases.

On June 1, 2015, a ‘bir’ was stolen from the gurdwara at Burj Jawahar Singh Wala. On October 12, 2015, torn pages of the ‘bir’ were found in front of a gurdwara at Bargari village. On October 14, 2015, two Sikh protesters were killed in police firing on a large number of people, who had gathered to protest against the Bargari sacrilege. These deaths led to huge resentment among Sikhs and protesters had blocked roads across the state for days.

Justice Ranjit Singh had submitted the first part of his report, pertaining to the Bargari sacrilege incident and the Behbal Kalan firing incident, along with some other important cases, to the CM on June 30. The chief minister had forwarded the report to the state home secretary and the advocate general to examine its findings and suggest action to be taken. LONDON : Labour MP Preet Kaur Gill, who is also chair of the allparty parliamentary group for British Sikhs, said on Wednesday that if necessary the UK National Authority will be taken to court on the issue of having a separate Sikh ethnic identifier in the 2021 census.

Gill and MPS Eddie Hughes and Pat Mcfadden met John Pullinger, chief executive of the UK Statistics Authority, this week and presented the response of 112 gurdwaras from across the country, favouring the separate Sikh ethnic box in the next census to be conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Edgbaston MP Gill said: “The National Statistician must recommend a Sikh ethnic tick box be included in the Census White Paper 2018 later this year or he will have serious explaining to do to MPS, ministers and the Sikh community.

“The National Statistician’s decision could result in the UK Statistics Authority and the ONS standing accused of racial discrimination against the Sikh community and facing embarrassing legal action.”

“The All-party Parliamentary Proup (APPG) has been contacted by the gurdwaras to discuss the establishment of a legal fund of £0.5 million if the UK Statistics Authority and ONS need to be taken to court,” Gill added.

Over 140 British MPS have supported the demand. ONS had confirmed to HT on Monday that no decision on having separate Sikh identifier for next census had been made. Over 80,000 Sikhs reportedly used ‘Other’ in the 2011 census, and mentioned ‘Sikh’ on the forms.