TARN TARAN, Punjab—Eight Sikhs, including Damdami Taksal leader Bhai Amrik Singh Ajnala, were severely injured in a clash held between Noormahal based cult, Divya Jyoti Jagarti Sansthan (DJJS) and Sikh organizations at Jodhpur village. The injured Sikhs were admitted to a nearby hospital.
The clash erupted when Sikhs led by Amrik Singh Ajnala, head of Damdami Taksal Ajnala, opposed the function of the controversial cult, whose preachers are accused of misinterpreting Gurbani and Sikh principles, at Jodhpur village today.
The Punjab police personnel who were deployed there to guard the cultists, reportedly opened fire on protesting Sikhs. According to information from various sources, Harjit Singh, a Divya Jyoti Jagrati Sansthan (DJJS) follower, organized the function at his residence. The Yuva Pariwar Samithi, a wing of the cult, organized the function.
Earlier, when various Sikh organizations received information about the DJJS function, they planned to protest it and started to gather outside the village Gurdwara. The Sikhs entered the village from the two entry points of the village to reach the Gurdwara.
Some Sikhs were passing through the street on which Harjit Singh’s house is situated where the function was organized. The cultists assumed that the Sikhs were coming in to oppose the program. They started pelting them with stones from the roof from which some Sikhs sustained serious injuries. Sikhs responded hard handedly.
Seeing the situation out of control, the policemen opened fire on the Sikhs. The shooting lasted for five minutes.
Though the district administration deployed six to eight police personnel to prevent any untoward incident during the function and Tarn Taran SDM personally visited the venue, all the arrangements failed to control the situation.
Harjit, a DJJS cultist, said that he had already told the district administration and police about the program and received approval.But they did not take it seriously, resulting in some of the cult’ s followers being injured as well. He accused the police and district administration of allowing the incident to happen. He alleged that when he informed about the movement of Sikhs outside the gurdwara, the police did nothing to step up police security.
On the other hand, the leaders of Sikh groups said that they just reached there to oppose the function peacefully but the cultists attacked them with stones and gunfire, resulting in eight Sikhs injured.
Gopal Singh, a Sikh leader, said that the cultists opened fire on them when they were passing outside the house where the program was organized, to reach the village Gurdwara. He said that he still managed to reach the Gurdwara but two policemen chased them and open fire on Sikhs gathered in the Gurdwara. He said that the shooting inside the Gurdwara premises by Punjab police personnel would never be tolerated at any cost.
Tarn Taran SSP Manoj Sharma said that the police have been deployed at the spot and the situation was under control. He, however, avoided giving any comment on security issues.
