Tension in Punjab over religious texts

Tension gripped the Indian state of Punjab after more than 200 torn pages of Sikh and Hindu religious texts were recovered from a canal in Jallandhar city.

The incident came to light when a passer-by spotted the pages — from the Sikh book Guru Granth Sahib and Hindu Bhagvad Gita — and raised the alarm.

As the news spread, youths entered the canal along a 4-km stretch and found several more pages.

Angered over the incident, people blocked the Jalandhar-Kapurthala highway yesterday morning, demanding arrest of those behind the act. Despite requests from administrative and police officials, the protesters refused to lift the blockade.

Tracing serial numbers

A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered against unknown persons for hurting religious sentiments. Police are also looking for CCTV footage.

After tracing serial numbers mentioned on the holy books recovered from the canal, police are trying to find to whom these were issued.

They are trying to ascertain if the holy books were stolen from any temple or gurdwara (Sikh temple) in the state.

According to police sources, “over 200 torn pages of Guru Granth Sahib and several pages of the Bhagavad Gita were found floating in the Bist-Doab canal near Kapurthala chowk. The torn pages were spotted by one Prince Pal Singh, who said he was returning from a gurdwara.”

Leader of prominent Sikh Talmel (Friendship) Committee Harpal Singh Chadha told Gulf News that “frequent incidents of desecration in the past year had exposed the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coalition government in Punjab. They have completely failed to control the menace.” NEW DELHI