Villagers boycott polls to protest sacrilege

Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service

Barnala, September 19

To protest against the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib during the SAD-BJP rule in Punjab and alleged subsequent failure of the Congress to punish the guilty, 90 per cent residents of Dhaula village under Barnala district boycotted the rural elections.

“The sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib was done under the rule of the SAD-BJP government and they have committed a grave sin. The Congress is also equally responsible as it has failed to take required action against guilty persons, despite getting report from the Justice Ranjit Singh (retd) Commission. Today majority of villagers boycotted the polls and we protested at eight places in front of polling booths,” said Parminder Singh, a member of a special committee of the village.

Four days ago, all villagers had called a meeting and formed a special committee to mobilise support to boycott elections.

Today villagers with banners having photos of SAD and Congress leaders with Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh protested in front of all polling booths and convinced village residents to boycott election.

AAP MLA from Bhadaur Pirmal Singh, who is a resident of Dhaula village, also supported the boycott and said that the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib had hurt the feelings of all Punjabis across the world.

“By boycotting the elections, our village residents have highlighted their pain. All Punjabis must take a lesson from the residents of my village to show their anger,” he said.

During protest, village residents raised slogans against SAD and Congress leaders.

When contacted, Barnala SDM Sandip Kumar confirmed that only 541 votes were polled, whereas the total number of voters was 5,227.