The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) on Tuesday assured free legal aid to Nirmaljit Singh Saini, who shot dead a woman found consuming alcohol inside a gurdwara complex in Patiala earlier this week. The SGPC and the authorities of Dukhniwaran Sahib Gurdwara have also honoured the parents of the accused.
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In a communique, Harjinder Singh Dhami, president of SGPC, said that the religious sentiments of devotees were deeply connected with the Gurdwara Sahibs and the violation of rules and traditions would not be tolerated.
“When Nirmaljit got to know that the woman was drinking near the holy pond, he couldn’t hold his anger back and shot the woman with his licensed revolver out of anger. It was an impulse action as the act deeply hurt his religious sentiments,” Mr. Dhami argued.
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The SGPC maintained that it stood with Mr. Singh and his family and was committed to providing him with legal aid. The religious organisation has also announced support for the treatment of another person who was injured during this incident.
The SGPC also maintained that anti-Sikh forces were targeting Sikh religious places in a deliberate conspiracy and the government was a mute spectator. “The mischievous act of drinking alcohol by a girl inside the historical Gurdwara Dukhniwaran Sahib in Patiala is a conspiracy, it cannot be a random phenomenon,” Mr. Dhami claimed.
The accused was arrested soon after the incident and sent to judicial custody. Police maintained that the woman had been under depression and the investigation prima facie found no conspiracy behind her act. She allegedly had been undergoing treatment for drug addiction.
Mr. Dhami also raised objections over explosions near Sachkhand Sri Harmandar Sahib and the assault of devotees and cases of sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. He said the anti-Sikh phenomenon was the result of the failure of the Punjab government to act.