Legal relief for Pak Sikh officer ‘kicked’ out of house

Varinder Singh

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, July 11

The Lahore District Sessions Court on Wednesday issued a contempt notice to three police and PETPB officials for forcibly evicting Gulaab Singh Shaheen, Pakistan’s first Sikh Traffic  Police Officer, from his house. Gulaab Singh, his wife Paramjit Kaur and sons Gurpreet Singh, Harcharanpreet and Jagtar Singh had to spend the night under a tree in front of their house. 

“The court has issued a contempt notice to SHO Iftikhar Ansari, PETPB Additional Secretary Tariq Wazir and Deputy Secretary Akram Zoya. The next date of hearing is July 13,” counsel Aseem Nawaz Gujjar told The Tribune over the phone.

Meanwhile, there has been an outpour of sympathy for Gulab Singh and his family. “The incident reflects Pakistan’s anti-minority stand,” said Jaiveer Shergill, who is on the AICC media panel. “First the attack on Sikhs in Afghanistan and now the humiliation of a Sikh officer in Pakistan. The incidents are disconcerting,” he said. 

The American Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (AGPC) requested the governments of Pakistan and Bangladesh to protect land belonging to Sikh shrines in their countries. Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan too demanded justice for Gulaab Singh. Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) general secretary Manjinder Singh Sirsa said the Pakistan government must rehabilitate Gulaab Singh immediately.