Tension grips Kaithal village over Nishan Sahib

Satish Seth

Kaithal, March 18

Tension gripped Bo-Pur village in Guhla sub-division of the district today when a group of Sikh followers installed Nishan Sahib on village panchayat land.

Sub-Divsional Magistrate (SDM) Bir Singh Kaliraman and Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Tekan Raj Sharma reached the spot with heavy police force.

Before the administration could take action, a large number of Sikhs, including women, reached the spot, surrounded the place where the Nishan Sahib was installed and warned the administration not to evict them forcibly from the spot. Efforts by officials to persuade the protesters to vacate the land failed.

Guhla tehsildar Mohinder Singh and BDPO Navneet Kaur were present in the village. The officials talked to five representatives of the protesters. The talks, however, failed and Sikh followers refused to vacate the land.

Meanwhile, langar committee president Devinder Singh said Sikhs had made arrangements to organise a langar on the land and had installed Nishan Sahib. He said the Sikhs neither planned to construct a gurdwara on the land nor they had installed Guru Granth Sahib at the place.

Sikhs said they failed to understand as to why the administration and panchayat were trying to get the land vacated.

Sarpanch Jaswant Singh urged the administration to get the land vacated, as he said some persons under the shield of religion were trying to take possession of the land. “There is a gurdwara in the village and there is no need for to another one.”

He said the panchayat was not against organising a langar at the place, but those behind the move seemed to have ulterior motives.

Meanwhile, the SDM said efforts were on to resolve the issue through talks and he was optimistic that a solution would be found. Elderly pesons of the village assured the administration there would be no construction on the land, he added.