Takht Jathedar shown black flags

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Talwandi Sabo, August 19

Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh today faced protest at Dadu village as Sikh villagers raised black flags and threw tomatoes on his cavalcade when he entered the village to attend a religious ceremony there.

Dadu village is located in Haryana, near Punjab’s Talwandi Sabo.

The Sikhs were protesting against the pardon given to Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a blasphemy case last year by Giani Gurbachan Singh.

He had come to attend the ‘barsi’ of the Baba Gurdev Singh, who was the head ‘sewadar’ of Gurdwara Dameshsar Sahib at Dadu village.

Tension continued when Giani Gurbachan Singh started addressing the gathering at the religious ceremony. Some Sikh villagers sitting in the ‘pandal’ started waving black flags and shouted slogans against him. At this, the task force deployed at the venue started beating the protesting Sikhs.

About six protesters were injured and the police got them admitted to the civil hospital at Kalianwali.

In view of the Jathedar’s visit, the villagers had announced in advance that they would stage a protest. But the Haryana Police took the call lightly. As a result, the Jathedar faced a huge protest and which also led to a clash between the task force and the protesters.

The protesters maintained that the ‘Jathedars’ of the Sikh community had been appointed at the Sarbat Khalsa and these Jathedars were puppets in the hands of the government and till the time the Sarbat Khalsa Jathedars are not given their proper place, they would continue their protest.

Giani Gurbachan Singh termed these protesters as “agencies’ supporters”. He said the work of the “agencies” was to stop Sikh preaching. We do not care about these persons and are giving the message of our Gurus to the Sikh public, he said.