Punjab police chief SS Saini is shifted, Panj Pyaras return

CHANDIGARH/AMRITSAR: Battling public anger and a tense law and order situation, the Punjab government Sunday shifted out its top police officer and appointed Suresh Arora as the DGP.

Within hours, the chief of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee, too, was forced to submit to growing pressure from the Sikh community by reinstating the Panj Pyaras barely three days after ordering their suspension.

The Badal government is facing arguably its worst crisis with violent protests rocking the state for three weeks over a string of incidents of desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book.

The death of two protesters in police firing added to growing rage against the government for excessive use of force and failure to prevent defiling of the Granth Sahib.

Transfer of Sumedh Singh Saini, who played a vital role in fighting terror and is believed to be close to chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, is being seen as a step towards cooling frayed tempers.

Known to be a no-nonsense officer, Arora, who was serving as chief director of the Vigilance Bureau, too, was at the forefront of the battle against a bloody insurgency that gripped Punjab for more than two decades.

On a day Sikh radicals announced their intention to intensify the agitation and “free the SGPC and Akal Takht from the clutches of the Badals”, gurdwara panel chief Avtar Singh Makkar took back the Panj Pyaras, or five beloved ones of the Guru.

The Panj Pyaras were suspended by Makkar for summoning Sikh high priests to explain the decision to pardon Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a blasphemy case.

The pardon, later withdrawn, didn’t go down well with the Sikhs and their anger found an outlet during recent protests. “Since the SGPC executive had given all rights to its president Makkar regarding the final decision on the Panj Pyaras, the SGPC chief has decided to reinstate them,” spokesperson Daljit Singh Bedi said.

The Panj Pyaras, who largely perform ceremonial roles and are appointed by the SGPC, had surprised everyone by summoning and later asking for the resignation of the high priests.

Makkar suspended them, saying they didn’t have the authority to act against the priests but faced a massive backlash from the community and within the SGPC.

Badal was forced to call an emergency meeting of the SGPC, which administers gurdwaras across the country.

Within hours of Saini being moved out, the SGPC revoked the suspension of the Panj Pyaras, a legacy of the 10th Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh, who along with a thousand others was baptized by the five spiritual warriors who volunteered to sacrifice themselves for his cause.

While Badal has called an emergency cabinet meeting on Monday, his ruling Shiromani Akali Dal issued a statement, urging people to unite against “extremist forces” attacking Sikh religious institutions and the government to destabilise the hard won peace in Punjab.