:dateline:To protest against the Punjab government�s move of framing Sikh leaders including Jathedars of Sikh Takhts into false cases of sedition, Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) and other Panthik groups who played vital role in organizing Sarbat Khalsa have�decided to boycott the Khadoor Sahib by-poll slated for Feb 13.
The decision has been taken in light of advice given by Takht Sri Damdama Sahib Jathedar Bhai Baljit Singh Duduwal. �The decision was announced in a meeting of Sarbat Khalsa coordination committee held here on Sunday which was presided over by SAD (A) chief Simranjit Singh Mann.
In a press conference here, representatives of the coordination committee including Gurnam Singh Sidhu, Jaswant Singh Mann, Prof. Mohinderpal Singh, Baba Pardeep Singh Chandpur, Bahadar Singh Rahon and Harbhajan Singh Kashmiri said that rulers of Punjab had crossed all limits of violation of democratic ethos by keeping the Panthik leaders behind bars.
They alleged that after pressing political dissent, the Punjab government was claiming to conduct fair and free election which is a big lie. �Akal Takht acting Jathedar Bhai Dhian Singh Mand, Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib Jathedar Bhai Amrik Singh Ajnala, Bhai Baljit Singh Daduwal and Sikh leaders including Bhai Mohkam Singh, Jaskaran Singh Kahan Singh Wala, Wassan Singh Jaffarwal, Bhai Satnam Singh Manawa and Bhupinder Singh Cheema have been jailed charging them for sedition illegitimately. Even, they are deprived of the right to be released on bail,” they said.
�In such atmosphere, how can we contest the bypoll of Khadoor Sahib. To protest against violation of our democratic rights, we have resolved not to contest the bypoll�, they added.
Sant Bhindranwale�s birth�anniversary�on Feb 12
The Sikh leaders revealed that birth anniversary of Shaheed Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale will be celebrated on Feb 12 at Gurdwara Sri Fatehgarh Sahib. In addition, human chain will be made from Faridkot to Bargadi village in protest against beadbi of Guru Granth Sahib.
Next meeting of Panthik organizations has been called at Ludhiana to chalk out future course of struggle.
It is important that we make sure that with the rigging of the electoral system (the under the table deals being done between Congress, BJP and Akali BaDal) and this boycott of Panthic parties we do not allow the likes of the Badals and RSS Harinder to somehow trumpet that the Akali BaDal have �won� the by-poll election (even though no opposition is making a striking political statement that they can have no legitimate mandate) and steadfastly use such a pernicious technicality to claim this gives them legal authority to continue arresting and abusing the rights of Sikhs. The former CM Beant used his 10% vote (despite Panthic parties refusing to participate in elections) to wage a war of terror against Sikh youth (fake encounters, kidnapping, torture, false arrests, extra judicial killings, disappearances and mass disposal of victims bodies et al) and the Badals are similarly inclined to please their Hinduvta masters to indulge their life of privilege (they own cable, PTC Punjabi, Orbit Resorts Pvt, Orbit Aviation Pvt Ltd, hotels and various transport company concessions making them crore upon crore). Few days back, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MLA Jagir Kaur Badal said mortgaging the mental asylum in PUnjab (putting more money into her family�s back pockets) was not a big deal as the state did not have any mentally challenged patients! Over seven lakh �ghost� voters of the total 1.9 crore voters have been detected in Punjab in the past eight months.
It was for the first time in the electoral history of Punjab that such a large number of fake voters had surfaced in a brief period of eight months � March till October-end 2015. The Election Commission was forced to go in for mass deletion of such votes. In the past, the Election Commission used to delete around 1.5 lakh votes in a year mainly on account of death or migration of voters to other states. We need international monitors for all elections in Punjab to root out vote rigging and to ensure an election is fair (e.g. media representation, arrests of party activists etc)