Sikh men framed in target killings, alleges Akal Takht
Two weeks after Punjab Police arrested two men, it claimed were ‘highly-radicalised’ and working to carry out targeted killings in the state, the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs, has accused the department and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) of falsely implicating Sikh men in cases of target killings of Hindu right wing leaders in Punjab.
“Implication of Sikh men in false cases is condemnable,” Akal Takht jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh said in a press note. The jathedar specifically rallied behind UK NRI Jagtar Singh Johal, alias Jaggi Johal, and Gurjant Singh, of Behlolpur village in Ludhiana.
The police had claimed that the two arrested men were in touch with Gurjant, an accused in RSS leader Ravinder Gosain’s murder in Ludhiana in October 2017. He and Johal are the 15-odd people that the NIA has chargesheeted in these cases. A section of the Sikh diaspora, especially in the United Kingdom, has been protesting against Johal’s arrest.
“Johal is innocent, but he is facing torture in custody. Gurjant is a taxi driver in Australia. He is the only breadwinner of his family here. His name is being linked to two people that Faridkot Police had arrested with weapons. He has no connection with those held. This a political conspiracy against Gurjant,” the jathedar added.
“The only offence of Gurjant is that he is undertaking an awareness drive against vulgar songs and anti-Sikh forces on the social media under the banner of ‘International Sikh Federation’,” the jathedar claimed, adding that Gurjant had even written a letter to the Central Bureau of Investigation wanting to share information related to the Bargari sacrilege incident.
“An independent agency should probe the target killings case. I also appeal to the SGPC and other Sikh organisations to defend these men,” he added.
An independent agency should probe the case of targeted killings . I also appeal to the SGPC and other Sikh organisations to defend these men. GIANI GURBACHAN SINGH, Akal Takht jathedar