Controversial poet attacked

Tribune News Service

Anandpur Sahib, September 30

Controversial Punjabi poet Surjit Gag, who was arrested last year following a complaint filed by the SGPC, was thrashed here today. He alleged that one of his assailants was Yadvinder Singh alias Yadi, a resident of nearby Jhinjri village.

Gag said he was attacked by two persons at a shop near the Charanganga bridge. He tried to flee, but the duo chased him on a bike and caught hold of him near Takht Kesgarh Sahib gurdwara, where he was beaten up. Yadwinder and his accomplices had attacked him twice in July last year, he alleged.

Gag has been at loggerheads with Sikh and Hindu hardliners for his poems and claimed to have received threats from them.

On July 9, 2017, he was arrested after the SGPC alleged that he had hurt religious sentiments of the Sikhs by sharing his poem ‘Main te Nanak’ (I and Nanak) on Facebook. Released on bail later, he was booked again in January for writing an essay on Dasehra, in which he allegedly used derogatory language against Hindu gods.

Nangal SHO Satish Kumar said an investigation was in progress.