CHANDIGARH: Led by its President Gobind Singh Longowal, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) office-bearers, members, and senior officials today staged a dharna outside the official residence of Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh here seeking cancellation of the cross FIR registered by Amritsar Police against some of the SGPC members and officials for mercilessly beating up Sikh agitators and making them captive for five hours inside the head office.
As the Chief Minister did not meet them, the SGPC functionaries sat in front of the resident and kept on raising slogans against the Congress government for a few hours. They brought a memorandum addressed to the Chief Minister in this regard. However, Capt. Amarinder Singh did not receive it personally and sent an official of the government to receive it from them.
More than two dozen SGPC members took part in the protest against the cross FIR which is turning out to be another headache for the gurdwara body.
The cross FIR was registered in connection with the violent incident, wherein SGPC task force thrashed the activists seeking justice in case of missing Guru Granth Sahib’s saroops mercilessly and ruthlessly on October 24 in an attempt to forcibly remove their agitation from outside its head office. Instead of booking SGPC functionaries for an attempt to murder, the Police booked the victims for these charges, while the former was booked for minimal charges.
Even as the SGPC is claiming that the activists attacked its functionaries first, it is not disclosing the CCTV footage of the incident as proof.
Notably, the activists who were brutalized inside the SGPC office for around five hours also included women and non-adults. They were also humiliated verbally by the SGPC functionaries.
It has also been learnt that the activists were beaten up in presence of an SP-ranked Police officer. The victims have demanded his role be probed as well.
Giani Harpreet Singh, SGPC-appointed acting jathedar of Akal Takht Sahib, is keeping silent on this issue.
