Amritsar, May 23
The SGPC, radical Sikh organisations and moderate Akali factions have all denounced the twin bomb blasts in two cinema houses in New Delhi where controversial Hindi movie, ‘Jo Bole So Nihaal’ was being screened yesterday evening, that claimed innocent lives, apart from injuring other cinegoers.
UK-based Dal Khalsa leader Manmohan Singh told TNS on telephone that the blasts were the handiwork of certain intelligence agencies and were aimed at defaming the Sikh community. He said Dal Khalsa was never involved in any violent incidents in the past and it would continue to follow the democratic and peaceful path for getting its demands accepted.
He alleged that Dal Khalsa had been banned earlier too due to disinformation spread allegedly by some vested interests.
He alleged that the blasts were the handiwork of those who wanted to defame the peace-loving Sikh community by taking advantage of the controversy over the screening of the film. The radical Sikh outfits Dal Khalsa and Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) said the Sikh organisations were protesting against the holy slogans and distortions of the Gurbani in the film through democratic and peaceful means and did not believe in killing innocent people.
The SGPC President, Bibi Jagir Kaur, and Mr Prem Singh Chandumajra, president of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Longowal), in separate press statements condemned the bomb blasts in Delhi’s cinema houses and described the incidents as part of a ‘deep-rooted’ conspiracy to defame the Sikh community.
Bibi Jagir Kaur
said Sikhs believed in the welfare of all human beings and could not even think of using violence against innocent persons. Expressing shock over the incident, she said nothing could be achieved through violence. The SGPC chief, however, said it was a matter of concern that despite the withdrawal of film from Punjab, Chandigarh and Haryana, its screening had not been stopped in Delhi and other parts of the country. She said members of the Sikh community must have been among those injured in the blast and hence indiscriminate violence could be a part of the ulterior motive of certain mischievous elements.
Meanwhile, the house of Mr Kanwarpal Singh, general secretary Dal Khalsa, was raided by the police in the afternoon. No arrest has been made in this regard so far.
