Amritsar, August 24
Jaipur-based national president of the Rashtriya Sikh Sangat Gurcharn Singh Gill has claimed that the Rajasthan Government has agreed in principle to include chapters on the significance of turban and “kesh” (hair) in the syllabus at school level with a view to generating awareness among the non-Sikhs.
He said the move would help prevent incidents of cutting of hair of a Sikh youth in Jaipur from happening again.
Mr Gill, who is also Deputy Advocate General of the Rajasthan Government, said the agitation, launched by various Sikh and non-Sikh organisations against the chopping off of hair, had been called off following assurance given by Chief Minister and Director General that more stringent Sections of the IPC would be added in the FIR registered against the prime suspect in the case.
He said others involved in the incident would be arrested shortly. He said even radical Hindu organisations like the Bajrang Dal and the RSS had participated in protests against the incident.
Meanwhile, senior Rashtriya Sikh Sangat leader R.P. Singh and SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar met the Chief Minister and senior leadership of Rajasthan and helped call off protests there.
They asked the Rajasthan Government to take necessary steps to prevent such incidents from happening again in the future.
On the other hand, near total bandh was observed in the city today following a call given by the Akal Purkh Ki Fauj and other Sikh organisations.
Youths brandishing swords and wielding lathis forced
Heavy police presence prevented any untoward incident from happening in the city.However, agitated youths smashed windows of some shops that remained open despite the bandh call.
SAD (Amritsar) general secretary Gurjatinder Singh Bhikhiwind claimed that the bandh was complete.
Elsewhere, former SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur has condemned the shearing of hair of a Sikh youth.
