Major religious and political organisations of the Sikh community have condemned the arrest of Gurbaksh Singh from the historic Amb Sahib gurdwara in Mohali on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday. Mr. Singh, on an indefinite fast seeking the release of five militants who have completed their prison terms, claims to be a follower of firebrand militant leader Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who, according to him, stood for the downtrodden and less-privileged Sikhs.
While representatives of these organisations, who owe allegiance outside the traditional Akali spectrum, have committed themselves to continuing the protest, an official release quoting a Punjab government spokesperson expressed concern over Mr. Singh’s health and urged him to end the fast. The State government said it was helpless as the demands made were outside its jurisdiction. While a fast-unto-death would not solve anything, nothing should be done to disturb the hard-earned atmosphere of peace and communal harmony in the State, the spokesperson noted.
According witnesses and his supporters, Mr. Singh was forcibly picked up by the police, who arrived at the site disguised as pilgrims. He was immediately bundled into a police vehicle and rushed to Mohali civil hospital. Later, he was sent to a jail in Ropar district on the charge of breaching tranquillity of the area.
Major Singh, who has been chronicling the events for the past 23 days, ever since Bhai Gurbaksh Singh started fasting, said that a large posse of police had converged on the shrine and also surrounded the civil hospital. Mr. Singh, he said, resisted every effort to feed him and warned the authorities against attempts to desecrate the ‘ardas’ (prayers) that he had offered before starting the protest.
Gurbaksh Singh, who has received support from various religious and radical Sikh organisations, including the Amritsar and Panch Pardhani factions of the Akali Dal, has been on fast since November 14. He is seeking the release of Lakhvinder Singh, Shamsher Singh and Gurmit Singh — who received life terms for their involvement in the assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh and have been in prison since 1995 — and Lal Singh and Gurdip Singh, who have spent 20 and 23 years in Gujarat and Karnataka jails, respectively, after being convicted by TADA courts.
Immediately after the police took Mr. Singh away, five people, later identified as Manjit Kaur, Inderpal Singh, Hardeep Singh, Harpreet Singh and Jaswant Singh, performed ‘ardas’ and began fasting. As the news went viral, representatives of various organisations began turning up and a coordination committee was formed to continue the demonstration. Mr. Singh, meanwhile, sent a message from the jail that he would continue protesting while in custody. After various rounds of discussions, the committee decided that Damandeep Singh, 26, from Haryana would sit on fast in place of Mr. Singh. Damandeep appealed to Sikhs to mobilise support and generate awareness about the issue.
‘Boycott Badals’ Meanwhile, the former Director General of Police for Jails in Punjab, Shashi Kant, called for a complete boycott of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his family until they did apologised for arresting Mr. Singh. In their effort to appease the BJP, the present State government had actually worked to stop the release of the prisoners though they had completed their sentence, he said.
