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Punjab Bandh: Jalandhar witnessed complete shutdown Provide uniform supply to entire state, forum to PSEB Near-total bandh gives hard time to commuters Badal performs langar sewa at Golden Temple |
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3 dead as car rams into lorry
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Punjab Bandh: Jalandhar witnessed complete shutdown Jalandhar, November 3 Government establishments like Tehsil office, Suvidha Centre, Passport office and DC office reported around 20 per cent of the normal rush. Courts wore deserted looks as the lawyers had passed a resolution on Friday declaring a holiday on November 3. While, the government employees in administrative offices reported on duty as normal, public restrained. The Patwari Farad Centre did not report even a single case till noon. “This center, which covers 30 villages, brims with people on normal days, but due to the bandh today not a single person turned up till now,” said Pawan Kumar, data entry operator, Farad Centre. The situation at the Passport office was no different. “Very less people came today. People have assumed that even the government establishments are closed due to the
shutdown,” said Ashwini Kumar, in charge, Passport Branch, Jalandhar. Shopkeepers preferred to keep the shops shut despite the fact that the city police did not take any chance and ensured no violation of the law and order. The police had made elaborate security arrangements to thwart any untoward incident. “We will not let anybody do anything violent of illegal. We will see that there are no forced shutdowns anywhere,” said Gurpreet Singh Khera, Additional Deputy Commissioner. Different teams comprising SPs, Magistrates and senior police officers were deputed to ensure peace, he added. Meanwhile, some organisations took out a peaceful protest march from Model Town Gurdwara to the Deputy Commissioner’s office holding banners reading “Deliver justice to 1984 riot victims”, “Hang Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar”. Speaking to The Tribune, Mandeep Singh, president of the International Sikh Council, said, “Even after the passage of 25 years, the relatives of riot victims are pleading for justice. Justice delayed is justice denied. We have assembled here to demand rehabilitation, jobs on compassionate grounds and relief packages for the families of the 1984 riot victims.” After protesting in front of the DC office and BMC Chowk, protesters jammed traffic at PAP Chowk for nearly an hour. After giving memorandum to the DC and SSP, protesters lifted the dharna at PAP Chowk. According to Railway sources, although the Chattisgarh Express and Dehradun Mail trains were suspended here, but the Sachkhand train was let to proceed further from Jalandhar after it reached here from Amritsar. Similar was the case with the Jammu Tawi-Ahmedabad train. Situation was miserable at the bus stand of the city. Though the number of commuters was less as compared to normal days, they had to wait for hours to get buses to their destinations. “I need to go to Hoshiarpur regarding official work. I am waiting here for the last six hours but not even a single bus has been plied for Hoshiarpur since then,” said Umesh Kumar of the Department of Irrigation. Nearly 2,200 buses cater to passengers at the city bus stand. Out of this, nearly 650 are state government buses and others belong to private owners or other states. However, only 90 buses, mostly government-run buses, were available. Educational institutions either remained closed or witnessed meager turn up of students. The managements of Layallpur Khalsa Colleges and DAV group of institutes decided not to open schools and colleges to avoid any untoward incident. All major commercial centers, including Rainak Bazaar, Jyoti Chowk market, Shekhaan Bazaar, Basti Shiekh market, Danishmandaan market and Bhargo Camp, remained closed till evening. All shops except, chemist shops, were closed. However, number of OPD patients in the Civil Hospital was nearly same as that of
the normal day. The entrance gates of nearly all major banks remained shut down till 3 pm and services of banks were nearly nil. Offices of nearly all major private firms were closed. To avoid any untoward incidence, shutters of PKF Finance, Hotel Raddison, Grand Mall and UK Embassy were pulled down for few hours. Offices of all private travelling agencies remained closed. Kapurthala: Almost a complete bandh was observed here on Tuesday as part of the bandh call which had been given by the Khalsa Action Committee (KAC). The bandh remained peaceful as no untoward incident was reported from anywhere. All the commercial establishments remained closed throughout the day. Buses remained off the road and even banking services remained paralysed owing to the bandh. Several Sikh youths, on two-wheelers, took the round of the city to enforce the bandh. Phagwara: On a call given by different panthic organisations of a “Punjab bandh” against the 1984 Riots, a complete bandh was observed in Phagwara while partial bandh was observed in Phillaur, Goraya, Bilga, Apra and Noormahal on Tuesday. Road and rail traffic remained disrupted and commuters had to face inconvenience due to the minimum availability of the transport. Only a few buses of Punjab Roadways, PEPSU Road Transport Corporation and private companies were seen plying. The local bus stand wore a deserted look. Many trains were cancelled and most of the trains ran one to nine hours behind schedule. Delhi bound 2014DN/2013UP Amritsar-Delhi Shatabdi Express and 2459UP/2460DN Amritsar-Delhi Superfast Express train were cancelled. Meanwhile, Nanded-bound 2716DN Sachkhand Express, 2318DN Akal Takht Express, 5210DN Jan Sewa Express, 5708DN Amarpali Express, 2926DN Deluxe Express and 1058DN Dadar Express trains were detained at Amritsar
till afternoon. However, the rail traffic on the Jalandhar-Pathankot-Jammu section, Ludhiana-Firozepur, Ludhiana-Jakhal-Hisar plied normally. Banks and other government offices remained opened
but the staff strength was very thin. Several schools remained closed. Meanwhile, activists of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) hold a demonstration and blocked vehicular road traffic on the Phagwara-Banga road near the city police station for some time on Tuesday afternoon.The demonstrators, led by SAD (A) executive member Jathedar Rajinder Singh Fauji reiterated the demands of stern punishment to those responsible for the riots. Hoshiarpur: Normal life disrupted in the district on Tuesday following the bandh called by Damdami Taksal, Dal Khalsa and various other Sikh organisations to express their resentment against the anti-Sikh riots of 1984. All commercial and educational establishments observed a complete strike. However, medical services functioned normally. Passengers at the local bus stand faced a lot of inconvenience as buses did not ply
to any route. Traffic on the Hoshiarpur-Jalandhar rail section was suspended from 11.45 am to 4 pm. Sikh activists squatted on the track in front of the
7 JH DMU train at the railway station. A heavy police force had been deployed in the city to avert any mishap. Sikh youths in groups roamed in various lanes and bazaars of the city to ensure complete bandh. Some of the youths raised slogans in
favour of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Attendance of employees in government offices was
very thin. SSP Parmod Ban claimed that the bandh remained largely peaceful and no untoward incident was reported in
the district. Nawanshahr: A complete peaceful bandh was observed here on Tuesday in protest against the delay in providing justice to the victims of the anti-Sikh riots. Representatives of various panthic organisations gathered at Gurdwara Singh Sabha to pay tributes to the riot victims. Later, they held a dharna at Chandigarh Chowk and they took out a protest march. |
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Provide uniform supply to entire state, forum to PSEB Amritsar, November 3 Terming it an illegal and against the norms, the forum sternly directed the PSEB to frame some guidelines regarding the supply of electricity. The judgement further says, “These guidelines should be circulated to the general public so that in future whenever electricity cuts are imposed, all consumers may be in a position to
know that when and at what time a cut is being imposed.” In a case pertaining to a consumer (C-43SW0039P), Jaspal Singh, a resident of Sultanwind Road, Amritsar, the forum observed the enormous discrimination meted out to the said resident’s locality by the PSEB while scheduling extra
electricity cuts on the pretext that the number of power theft cases was high in his locality. Taking cognizance of this discriminate attitude, the forum has directed the PSEB to refrain from imposing extra cuts in his area. “I had observed that more than two-hour extra cuts, other than the regular eight to nine-hour cuts, were constantly being imposed in my locality only. On being interrogated, I was told by the SDO in charge that it was being done as per instructions and policy matters that extra cuts should be imposed in areas where there were more cases of power theft,” said Jaspal Singh. Perturbed over this reply, Jaspal asked for the log sheet pertaining to
power distribution. “Though they did not show me any relevant official document, they just confirmed that it was a policy decision of the PSEB,” said Jaspal. Jaspal filed a complaint with the court of the President of the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum to seek justification. The PSEB officials couldn’t produce adequate proofs and the verdict was passed in the consumer’s favour while directing the PSEB Chairman, the Chief Engineer, Border Range, Ajnala Road, Amritsar, the SDO, Sultanwind Road, Bijli Ghar, Amritsar, to regularise not only his locality’s supply but also frame some concrete policies regarding scheduled power cuts because a consumer had a right to know when and for how much time, his electricity supply would be disrupted. |
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Near-total bandh gives hard time to commuters Amritsar, November 3 The pilgrims and tourists visiting the holy city from across the globe were caught in a quagmire as they were left stranded due to the strike. A resident of Delhi, Prabhjinder Kaur, said she arrived here a day before yesterday to seek the blessings on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev. She said she was not aware of the strike call but added that the urge to be at the holiest Sikh shrine on Gurpurb was difficult to resist. A majority of the streets wore a deserted look as people preferred to remain indoors and common means of transportation like rickshaws, autos and taxis remained off the road. The strike call on the issue of justice being denied even after 25 years of the carnage was supported beyond community lines as shops and other commercial establishments were closed. However, people in need of essential commodities suffered as all shops remained closed. Shops of chemists, milk and other essential items did not open. A resident of Majitha Road, Asha Rani, said she had to be administered an injection of the anti-rabies today but no shop was opened. Pilgrims and tourists were fleeced by private transporters and rickshaw-pullers. They were charged three times more than the normal fares. Rajesh Kumar of Lohgarh Gate said he, along with his family of six, reached Pathankot bus stand from Jammu at midnight to catch a bus to Amritsar. They were stunned to learn that buses would not proceed further owing to the strike. Then they boarded the Pathankot-Amritsar passenger train which left Pathankot at 4.30 am. However, the train was held at Batala as the Jammu-Amritsar line was blocked by agitators here. He said at Batala they hired a taxi whose owner charged Rs 100 per person for dropping them outside the bus stand. Tarn Taran: The bandh call evoked full response in the border belt. The roads wore a deserted look . The bandh was nearly complete not only in the urban areas but it affected the normal life in the rural area also. Shops, bazaars, bus service, hospitals and commercial establishments remained paralysed . There was no supply of milk, fodder and vegetables to the urban areas. Though most of the private schools had been closed, attendance in government schools too was badly affected badly. The Khalra Mission at its meeting held under the chairmanship of Harmandeep Singh Sarhali here claimed the response to the bandh call was the voice of the resentment prevailing among the Punjabis against the riots in Delhi and other parts of the country in 1984. Pathankot: The city registered a mixed response to the bandh call given by the Sikh panthic organisations to protest against the Union Government for not ensuring justice to the victims of the anti-Sikh riots. Markets and business establishments functioned normally after noon time. Even heavy police force had not been deployed in bazars and various crossings to avert any mishap. |
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Badal performs langar sewa at Golden Temple Amritsar, November 3 The Badal couple, who had reached the Golden Temple complex on Sunday evening, paid obeisance at the sanctum sanctorum and performed langar sewa at the gurdwara. A large number of SGPC functionaries joined Badal in the sewa. After performing ardas, Badal distributed langar among devotees. He sat in the “pangat” and partook langar along with other devotees and also washed utensils. Badal also listened to rendition of kirtan for over two hours. Greeting people on the auspicious occasion of Guru Nanak Dev’s birth anniversary, Badal described the Guru as an apostle of peace and tolerance and added that his teachings would continue to inspire generations, leading them to the path of righteousness and
brotherhood. Referring to the Punjab bandh call, Badal said people of Punjab were peace loving and they would not support any activity which would disturb the peace and tranquillity of the state. Earlier, on Sunday evening, the Badals, along with a host of SGPC functionaries and devotees hailing from the Lambi constituency, made preparations for the langar to be served to devotees. A truckload of material like ration and vegetables to prepare langar was collected and brought from the Lambi constituency. |
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3 dead as car rams into lorry Hoshiarpur, November 3 The police identified the deceased as Puro Devi, wife of Bishan Dass, Rita Devi, wife of Tek Raj, Balwant Singh, son of Fateh Singh, all of Patel Nagar, Kathua (Jammu and Kashmir). The injured, Tek Raj, Mukti Devi and Krishna Devi of Kathua, were admitted to the Civil Hospital, Tanda, from where Tek Raj and Mukti Devi were referred to a Jalandhar hospital. The occupants of the Scorpio were returning to their houses from Hardwar. The driver of Scorpio failed to control his vehicle while he was trying to overtake the lorry, the driver of which slammed on the brakes which caused the accident. |
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Jalandhar, November 3
