Op/Ed: Punjab Government Under Pressure After Attack on Bhai Dhadrianwale

May 19, 2016

LUDHIANA, Punjab—Following the attack on Bhai Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwale, the Punjab Government is under a lot of pressure to nab the culprits. The Government has started investigations and has promised to capture the culprits in the coming days. Yesterday, on May 16, around 40 unidentified assailants launched an attack on Bhai Dhadrianwale’s convey, leading to the death of one of the Singhs named Bhai Bhupinder Singh.

Bhai Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwale has appealed to his followers to stay calm. “I request the Sadh Sangat to not speculate anything at this point and let the administration do its work. I am deeply saddened by the death of my colleague Bhupinder Singh, with whom we were doing Sikhi parchar day and night,” Bhai Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwale told the Sikh Sangat last night after the attack.

When asked about identification of the assailants, Bhai Dhadrianwale said, “This should not be a tough task for the Government. The men who attacked us numbered in forties, they attacked us during broad daylight. Government should launch speedy investigations to nab the culprits.” He refused to name any Jathebandi or individuals specifically, however said, “if the Government fails to do its job, we will definately mount pressure on it. Government is in touch with us and senior officials have given assurance to take action on priority basis.”

At the time of this writing, the Punjab Government has claimed to have arrested 4 people in connection with the attack.

Shortly after the attack, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister stated, “We deplore the dastardly act of attack on Sant Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwale by cowardly attackers. Punjab Government will not let such heinous crimes go unpunished and has deployed all its resources into nabbing the culprits as soon as possible.” Sikh sangat launched protests in different places across Punjab. Namely in Samrala on May 18, a huge protest took place where the protesters demanded arrest of the killers.

Jatinder Singh Aulakh, Police Commissioner from Ludhiana while explaining the attack said, “the assailants were wearing round turbans, also called ‘dumalle’ and they raised Khalistan Zindabad slogans as they attacked Sant Ji’s car.” Since the attack on Bhai Dhadrianwale, similar speculations have been made over social media. It is notable that from that past two weeks, a bitter war or words has been evident between supporters of Bhai Dhadrianwale and Baba Harnam Singh Dhumma, president of one faction of Damdami Taksal.

On May 7, during a monthly diwan at Gurdwara Permeshar Dwar, Bhai Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwale had referred to Baba Harnam Singh Dhumma as a Government agent. He stated that Baba Dhumma was misusing Sant Jarnail Singh Khalsa Bhindranwale’s fame for personal gains. Since then, followers of Baba Dhumma have been active on social media condemning Bhai Dhadrianwale’s statement. Jago Wale Jatha, a renowned dhadhi jatha from England also uploaded a video alleging Bhai Dhadrianwale as a Government agent instead as they indirectly lent support to Baba Dhumma.

A number of news reporters in Punjab have also indirectly quoted the bickering between both groups as a reason behind the attack. Over the past few hours, another post has been circulating over Whatsapp linking the attack to Baba Harnam Singh Dhumma group. The post states that a Tata vehicle with license plate number PB23J 0015, registered under the name of Baba Harnam Singh, son of Tarlochan Singh of village Mehta was used during the attack. Similar posts have been seen across other social media as well, however, none of these facts have been verified. While people have already linked Baba Dhumma to the attack, others have speculated why would the Damdami Taksal faction launch such an offensive when it was already involved in war or words with Bhai Dhadrianwale publicly. Many have speculated that the attack may have been orchestrated by the Punjab Government to divert attention of Sikh community from other important issues.

Over the next few days, the Government may release names of culprits and make a few arrests to calm down Bhai Dhadrianwale’s supporters. At this time, based on CCTV footage acquired by the Government, the assailants may be linked to a Sikh group, such as Damdami Taksal (Mehta). Some CCTV footages also show a jeep with a sticker belonging to Sri Hazoor Sahib. The Government could also charge people within Permeshar Dwar Trust as the culprits for launching attack on Dhadrianwale due to internal disputes. All in all, Akalis has a very good chance of presenting themselves as Panthik, while they can ruin credibility and legitimacy of Panthik organizations easily. This will allow them to patch their distrusted image after Guru Granth Sahib beadbi incidents last year before Sarbat Khalsa, when they failed to arrest real culprits.