Amritsar, August 28
Veteran Akali leader and member of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) Manjit Singh Calcutta has created a flutter within the Akali circles and outside as well by accusing the SGPC management of “violation of hukamnamas” issued by Akal Takht from time to time.

Calcutta has sought to highlight the sensitive issue of alleged violation of Akal Takht “hukamnamas” by successive presidents of the SGPC and its management citing a couple of cases in his “open letter” addressed to the Akal Takht Jathedar. “On one hand, all of us treat ‘hukamnamas’ issued from the Takht as an ‘order of the Almighty’ and on the other hand, the SGPC itself was violating these edicts which leaves the Sikh sangat perplexed,” alleged Calcutta. SGPC chief Avtar Singh was, however, not available for comments despite repeated efforts.

Calcutta further said that in March 2000, armed with the consent of “Five Sikhs,” Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti had ordered the SGPC to make an effort to frame rules regarding service, appointment and superannuation of Akal Takht Jathedars. For this, then SGPC chief late Gurcharan Singh Tohra had formed a committee under the leadership of Bhai Jasbir Singh Khannewale to accomplish the task. Ironically, the SGPC revoked the committee within days of the death of Tohra.

Similarly, in 2008, Dal Khalsa initiated the project and formed a committee which had a brief to accomplish its job by April 2010. “Here, too, the effort was criticised by SGPC chief Avtar Singh, whereas the task and effort needed a pat,” said Calcutta.“Take the case of the Dera Sacha Sauda case. The dera head had left bruises on hearts of millions of Sikhs by wearing the attire of Guru Gobind Singh. At this, the Takht Jathedar issued a ‘hukamnama’ on may 17, 2007, directing the Sikhs to get the deras closed and to effect social boycott of dera followers. But the government, which dubs itself as an Akali government, preferred to put protesting Sikhs in jails and the SGPC chief remained a mute spectator. In 2009, after getting dera supporters’ votes in the 2009 byelections, this Akali government ordered its DGP to provide security cover to deras. This in itself is a clear violation of the Takht ‘hukamnama’”. In 2007, Vedanti had pointed out that the Shiromani Akali Dal should remove the middle “Akali” word from the party name as it had declared itself to be a secular party. “This ‘hukamnama’ too went unheeded,” said Calcutta.

Similarly, early this year, some Austrian Sikh followers had opposed the “gaddi pooja” of a “deradaar” in the presence of Guru Granth Sahib and they were subjected to atrocities. The Punjab government extended full government honours to the slain dera head and the SGPC went to the extent of holding a “path” for the peace of the soul of the deceased. But no effort was made to dig out the truth behind the entire episode. No committee was formed.

Jalandhar, August 28
A complete bandh was observed today in Jalandhar Cantonment on a call given by the Balmik community against the alleged objectionable remarks against Bhagwan Valmiki by a sadhvi during a religious discourse late last night.

The police arrested the sadhvi under section 295-A of the IPC for hurting the religious sentiments of the community. SP (City-II) Sarbjit Singh said the sadhvi had been sent to judicial custody for 14 days. Earlier, the police had recorded her statement.

Meanwhile, the Kamleshwar Valmiki Educational Trust, which was heading the agitation, held a meeting in the cantonment and demanded action against the sadhvi as per the rule of the law. President of the trust Rakesh Bhatti said, “We want communal harmony in the society, but some people deliberately use objectionable words against Bhagwan Valmiki to instigate us,” he added. The agitated community demanded that the government should ensure strict punishment for people who rake up such sensitive issues every now and then.

Hurt by the remarks, community members damaged a stationary vehicle and some commercial establishments late last night.

The incident took place following a religious discourse by Jain sadhvi Chelna Didi at Shri Digambar Jain Mandir in Jalandhar Cantonment when she passed objectionable remarks against Bhagwan Valmiki. The sadhvi, who had come from Jharkhand for delivering the sermon, had been residing in the city for the the past some days.

“Though we sent a message to the sadhvi to stop the sermon as she was hurting the religious sentiments of the community, but she chose to ignore our warning,” said Rajan Nahar, one of the eyewitnesses.

Later in the day, the agitated Balmik community members met the police and demanded that the sadhvi should also be booked under the SC/ST Act. “The accused should be booked under the act for hurting our religious sentiments,” said Ashok Dheel, one of the agitators.

Meanwhile, members of the Jain community held a protest when the sadhvi was produced in the court in the evening. They alleged that there was no woman police personnel when the police came to arrest the sadhvi last night.

Hoshiarpur, August 28
State president of the Punjab Christians Front Lawrence Chaudhary has appealed to the Secretary, Punjab Welfare Board, to immediately send copies of the notification relating to grant of scholarships to the students of minority communities to all primary, high and senior secondary schools, professional colleges, universities and district education offices so that seekers of scholarships could apply for the benefit in time.

The last date of receiving applications was August 31, 2009. A majority of the students of minority communities were not aware of the scheme. Moreover, parents of students had also been facing inconvenience in procuring minority community certificates.

Lawrence Chaudhary apprehended that on account of lack of awareness, a majority of the students could not avail the opportunity. He demanded extension of the submission of application date from August 31 to September 30 to enable the students to apply for the scholarships. The Government of India had started a scheme to grant scholarships to the students of minority communities for their studies.

Hoshiarpur, August 28
In an encouragement to the mentally challenged children of Jagjit Singh Sachdeva Asha Kiran School, management of the school and judicial officers organised an exhibition of goods prepared by these special kids before the courtroom of the Chief Judicial Magistrate today.

Additional District Session Judge Kamaljit Singh, Chief Judicial Magistrate Gurjant Singh, Civil Judges Preeti Sahni and Triptjot Kaur and Additional Civil Judge Karamjit Singh Sular jointly inaugurated the exhibition.

Goods prepared by the children, including detergent powder, gift envelops, spices, liquid cleaner and art and craft goods were displayed at the exhibition. Members of the District Bar Association, judicial officers highly appreciated the children.

Jalandhar, August 28
The BJP has demanded a high-level probe into a multi-crore service tax scandal by oil companies in collusion with civic bodies across the country.

Sukhminderpal Singh Grewal, chief of the Investor Cell, alleged that the oil companies, in league with civic body officials, were not paying service tax for advertisements at their outlets for products other than their own.

There were over 68,388 retail outlets in the country where flex hoardings had been installed but the companies had not paid a single paisa as service tax to the local civic bodies.

This was a serious violation, he pointed out.

Citing the case of Punjab alone, he said there were 5,226 oil outlets and on an average over 1000 sq feet had been used to install hoardings, signage and glow signs and the calculation came to over 52, 2600 sq feet of advertisements. “If we calculate the whole space at the rate of Rs 40 per sq mt per month, this means the state government is losing Rs 30,10,17,600 per month on this account alone,” he added.

Going by the same calculation, the Punjab Government had lost over Rs 180 crore in the period 2002-2003 till date, he said.

He alleged that the municipal authorities knew what was going on but they were hand in glove with their counterparts in the oil companies and had chosen to turn a blind eye to the loot of the exchequer.

Grewal said he had written to the Director-General, Ministry of Finance, to order an enquiry so that the guilty could be brought to book.

Jalandhar, August 28
A gas leak incident at the BSNL office near the District Administrative Complex at Master Tara Singh Nagar around noon today led to panic in the area.

Fire Brigade employees had to work for over three hours to plug the leakage of one of the two cylinders of chlorine gas put into use for water treatment in the complex.

The fire officials said the building was got evacuated immediately. They said the effect of the leakage was so adverse that three employees of the Fire Brigade started feeling dizzy and had to be rushed back. To prove their point, they showed silver rings in their hands that turned black. They said even the copper nozzles of their water pipes got corroded due to the gas effect. They said that the problem arose due to a defective valve that needed to be replaced.