After being suspected of a sacrilege attempt, a young man was beaten to death at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Saturday. The unidentified man in his twenties was apprehended at the Darbar Sahib by members of the Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee and worshippers. His corpse was later buried outside the SGPC offices’ main gate.
“The unnamed individual was thrashed before he was brought to the SGPC headquarters,” DCP Parminder Singh Bhandal said. The manner in which he died is under examination.” Leaders from both parties denounced the attempted sacrilege and demanded a full investigation. “Strongly denounced the most regrettable and terrible crime of attempting desecration of Sri Guru Granth Sahib in the sanctum sanctorum,” stated Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, according to the CMO. According to the report, the CM ordered the state police to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the situation in order to determine the “motivation” and “conspirators.”
Read also: Man beaten to death for trying to descrate Guru Granth Sahib at Golden Temple
He also called with the president of the SGPC, assuring him of his government’s full support and assistance in the investigation. Because the Rehraas Sahib is televised live by a private channel, the event occurred around 5.50 p.m. and was recorded on video. The SGPC later published surveillance footage from the event. According to accounts, the young man was first interrogated in a chamber on the Golden Temple grounds before being wheeled to the SGPC headquarters. He was being pummelling the entire time. Meanwhile, cops arrived on the scene. The teenager was questioned by police officers and SGPC officials, according to sources, but he did not divulge anything about himself. According to accounts, he didn’t have any identification with him.
Meanwhile, several Sikh activists and devotees staged a dharna to demand the youth’s detention. His remains was later buried outside the SGPC’s offices. It was the Golden Temple’s second sacrilege attempt in four days. On Wednesday, someone tossed a gutka (a book containing poems from the Gurbani) into the Golden Temple’s sarovar (holy tank). The individual was captured by SGPC sewadars and handed over to police. Ranbir Singh was the name given to him. “This is not a stray incidence,” SGPC chairman Dhami stated afterward. It’s all part of a plot to inflame Sikh feelings and poison the atmosphere in Punjab.”
They always responded appropriately. During election season, there are various entities that are behind these acts.” “If such an incident occurs somewhere and the sangat punishes the perpetrator on its own, the government or the perpetrator will be held accountable.” Because Sikhs will no longer tolerate these atrocities, the government must reveal the powers behind these plots,” he stated.
Punjab BJP President Ashwani Sharma condemned the Golden Temple attack and chastised the Congress administration for allegedly failing to respond in sacrilege instances. He demanded an investigation into the Saturday event. “It’s inconceivable that such a cruel and blatant crime is done at ‘the holiest place of mankind’ by a single guy,” Shiromani Akali Dal patron and former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said in a video speech. It’s impossible to rule out the notion of a deep-seated conspiracy. This has to be investigated.”
Read also: Amarinder announces party’s alliance with BJP
Sacrilege attempts have long been a delicate topic in Punjab. During the Akali-BJP government, such occurrences contributed to the SAD’s defeat in the 2017 Assembly elections. The issue has gained pace in recent months, with Congress state president Navjot Singh Sidhu bringing it up to challenge Captain Amarinder Singh, who was Chief Minister until recently. Sidhu even quit short in protest at Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s appointment of former Advocate General APS Deol, claiming that Deol had defended Sumedh Singh Saini, who was DGP at the time of the alleged sacrilege occurrences. Attempts on sacrilege have been a contentious subject in Punjab, and the SAD paid a high price during the hustings in 2017 for its apparent unwillingness to investigate such cases. Political parties would be hard pressed to take a position on this subject as the state prepares for Assembly elections.
