Christians protest disruption by ‘Nihangs’ during Friday procession

Amritsar, April 8

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After some Nihangs had recently disrupted the Good Friday procession near Pakharpura village on the Amritsar-Pathankot highway, members of the Christian community staged a demonstration last night. The rural police suspended the in-charge of the Jaintipur Police Post for not taking precautionary measures before the procession.

On Saturday, Subhash Thoba, a member of the Punjab Minority Commission visited Pakharpura village for an investigation of the matter. Thoba visited St Thomas Church located in the village. He was apprised about the incident by Father Jiban and other members of the community. Father Jiban stated that before the Good Friday procession, he had written to the local police post for adequate security arrangements for the Shobha Yatra. Despite that, security arrangements were not made by the police. When the procession was under way, some people in the attire of Nihang Singhs arrived on the scene and intercepted the procession by brandishing swords. This caused disruption in the procession as the devotees panicked.

Thoba was accompanied by SP (Headquarters) Sukhwant Kaur, the Majitha DSP and the Kathunagal SHO. Thoba stated that such incidents could not be tolerated. He asked the police administration to ensure security for the church. He also met the SSP (Rural) in this regard.

Kathunagal SHO Jaswinder Singh said, “We are investigating the matter. We are on the lookout for the accused. There was no damage or loss of life. We are collecting footage of CCTV cameras. There is no communal issue. It seems to be a case of road-rage.”