Sikh holy book defiled in Hoshiarpur

HOSHIARPUR: In a fresh case of desecration, pages of Guru Granth Sahib were defiled with vermillion in a gurdwara in Bassi Daud Khan village- about 10 km from here. The incident had come to the notice of village panchayat on Tuesday but fearing public outrage, they kept it a secret and informed only a handful of Sikh leaders who shifted the ‘bir’ to Goindwal Sahib on Wednesday.

Enquiries revealed that the incident had taken place in after the ‘parkash’ (morning prayers). The miscreant/ miscreants tampered with at least 20-25 pages.

Sarpanch Gurdip Kaur’s husband Piara Ram said the gurdwara had no permanent ‘granthi’ and villagers performed the routine religious service themselves. “No one saw the movement of any outsider in the area. The woman, who had done the ‘parkash’, said she had left soon after the service,” he said. He revealed that five more ‘birs’ were lying in the gurdwara but all were ‘safe’. Asked why so many ‘birs’ were kept when there was not even a single sewadar to look after them, he said it was “a matter of people’s faith”.

District SAD president and SGPC member Surinder Singh Bhulewal Rathan revealed that when he was informed about the incident by his circle president, he reached the village and brought the sacrilege to the notice of police. “The bir has been sent to Goindwal Sahib and the panchayat asked to install CCTV cameras around the gurdwara to prevent any such occurrence in future,” he said.