'An Emotive Issue': Punjab To Make Law On Sacrilege

(MENAFN- IANS) Chandigarh, July 5 (IANS) The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab will convene a special two-day session of the Legislative Assembly next week to enact a law on sacrilege, an emotive issue that remains a hot political issue ahead of every poll.

A government spokesperson said the law against sacrilege would be passed in the Vidhan Sabha special session on July 10-11 to prevent a repeat of such incidents in the future.

“For a long time, there has been a demand for making a law against sacrilege in Punjab. The Mann government will fulfil the demand of the people,” said the spokesperson.

The incident of sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib that caught nationwide attention took place in Behbal Kalan village of Faridkot district in 2015, and the subsequent police firing on protesters that claimed two lives was raked up by the Congress against the SAD-BJP combine government in the 2017 assembly polls.

Even in 2022 polls, in which the current state government came at the helm, the incidents continued to rock the state's political sphere as successive governments are under fire for failing to deliver justice in the cases.

In the run-up to the last assembly polls, Justice Ranjit Singh (retd), who headed the commission into the alleged incidents of sacrilege and the subsequent police firing, placed then Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patriarch, and then DGP Sumedh Singh Saini in the dock.

Also, he castigated the Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda, whose chief and self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is currently serving a 20-year jail sentence for raping two of his disciples and a life term for a journalist's killing, for the incident of sacrilege.

Justice Singh made these comments during the release of his 423-page book 'The Sacrilege' based on his inquiry when he was heading the current Congress government set up commission.

The judicial commission was mandated to inquire into nearly 160 cases of sacrilege. Responding to the government's decision to make a law on sacrilege, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday hit back at statements made by Akali leaders over the special session of the Assembly to enact a law on sacrilege.

The party accused the Akalis of shedding crocodile tears and emphasised that, for the first time, a strict law against sacrilege is being introduced in Punjab under the AAP government.

AAP leader Baltej Pannu told the media here that the Akali Dal (Badal) is now getting worried upon hearing about the strict law being formulated regarding sacrilege.

He said every Punjabi knows how these people betrayed the people of Punjab on the sacrilege issue and made a mockery of the investigation, adding that the Akalis refused to accept the report of the committee formed under former Justice Zora Singh.

Moreover, they sold the Justice Ranjit Singh Committee report by the kilo outside the assembly.

“The whole of Punjab knows how these people used the sacrilege incidents for political gain and interfered in the investigation. Had they wanted to make a law, they could have done so before 2017,” he said.

Referring to the sacrilege incident that occurred in Nakodar in 1986, he said at that time four people protesting were killed by the police.

Later, when a government led by Parkash Singh Badal was formed, they promoted the police officers responsible for the crime and appointed them to high positions. The report of that investigation was also never made public by these people.

Pannu further stated that during the sacrilege incidents in 2015, Sukhbir Badal was the Deputy Chief Minister and also held the Home Ministry portfolio.

At that time, the police used batons and water cannons on peacefully protesting Sikh devotees. Two people were“martyred” in Behbal Kalan after being shot by the police. Even today, people are waiting for justice.

He said the AAP government is bringing a Bill in the upcoming Assembly session to completely prevent sacrilege incidents so that in the future, no one dares to insult the holy scriptures of any religion and the religious sentiments of people of all faiths remain protected at all times.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at ...)

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