Amritsar, December 5
Holding a former Akal Takht Jathedar, Prof Darshan Singh, guilty in a case pertaining to the latter’s alleged blasphemous remarks against Guru Gobind Singh during his discourse at a Rochester (US) gurdwara, the Sikh high priests today declared him tankhaiya.

Prof Darshan Singh’s written clarification in this regard has virtually been rejected by the high priests, at least for the time being.

As expected, Prof Darshan Singh’s appearance at Akal Takht largely went off peacefully. There was a little tension for some time during the four-hour-long meeting of the Sikh high priests owing to the presence of a couple of supporters of Prof Darshan Singh and his detractors, particularly when some Nihangs sitting outside Akal Takht raised “jaikara” of “Bole so Nihal...Sat Sri Akal.”

Though certain quarters were expecting a showdown between the two parties, the apprehensions proved wrong primarily because of a statement issued by Prof Darshan Singh on Friday that he would be appearing before the Takht along with 20-25 “religious persons” and owing to the large presence of the SGPC Task Force.

Flanked by his supporters and a number of officials of the SGPC Task Force, Prof Darshan Singh reached Akal Takht around 10.30 am. He placed his written clarification at the golak in front of Guru Granth Sahib and sat waiting for some representative of the high priests for over one and a half hours to pick it up and hand it over to them. But it did not happen for quite some time and later a granthi handed it over to the high priests, who were deliberating on the issue in the Akal Takht secretariat. Meanwhile, Prof Darshan Singh left the venue along with his supporters.

After extensive discussion, the Akal Takht Jathedar, Giani Gurbachan Singh, came out and stated that Prof Darshan Singh had been declared tankhaiya for his act. The quantum of tankha (religious punishment) would be pronounced as and when Prof Darshan Singh appeared before the Takht on or before January 7, 2010. Till that time, the Sikh sangat, Singh Sabhas and other Sikh organisations would not allow him to hold his discourse.

Giani Gurbachan Singh said the explanation of the former Jathedar was not acceptable to the Sikh clergy as Prof Darshan Singh had not appeared before Akal Takht at the secretariat where all important decisions were taken.

“By doing so, Prof Darshan Singh has shown the high degree of his arrogance. It was a challenge to the supremacy of Akal Takht?,” said the order pronounced by Giani Gurbachan Singh, Giani Iqbal Singh of Takht Patna Sahib, Tarlochan Singh of Kesgarh Sahib, Balwant Singh Nandgarh of Takht Damdama Sahib and Partap Singh, a representative of the Jathedar of Takht Hazoor Sahib.

Talking about the case of DSGPC chief Parmjit Singh Sarna, who was summoned on a complaint of Delhi-based Sikh leader Kuldip Singh Bhogal, Giani Gurbachan Singh said the issue could not be considered this time.

Referring to the eruption of violence in Ludhiana, Giani Gurbachan Singh said the administration there was responsible as it failed to take action in time. He, however, did not blame the government for the law and order failure in Ludhiana, saying primarily it was the responsibility of the administration to maintain law and order in a city.

Jalandhar, December 5
The state government has emerged richer by nearly Rs 1,000 crore with a local court dismissing the cases filed by the Punjab Waqf Board for taking possession of over 50 acre of prime land in the city.

The land in question houses the only Government Sports College of the city besides the offices of the Director, Land Records, and some other allied departments.

The court of BK Mehta, Additional District Judge and the Punjab Waqf Board Tribunal, dismissed six of the seven cases filed by the Board here this evening.

The stand of the defendants was that the land in question was the property of the Central government under Section 12 of the Displaced Persons Act, 1954. The land of the college was purchased from the Settlement and Rehabilitation Department for Rs 21.84 lakh and the deed of conveyance was issued in the name of Secretary, Department of Education in 1980 and a mutation was sanctioned in 1996.

On the other hand, the Board presented a notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs to stake its claim on the land and the defendants contended that it was issued in 2006 without giving any opportunity to them to present their case before the competent authority.

The Waqf Board claimed that there was an Islamia College at the site and therefore it was its property, a charge that was refuted by the defendants who argued that the state was the owner of the land and not tenants as was being made out by the former.

It was also brought to the notice of the court that since 1947, various government offices have been functioning on this land, including the state secretariat which has been functioning since the Partition.

Presently, the office of the DLR is functioning from this place and includes the State Patwar School, a hostel for trainees and a multi-storied record room that houses all the old records of Punjab from 1947.

The Sports College Principal Karamjit Kaur Chaudhry said the college was started by the then CM Partap Singh Kairon to nurture sportspersons in the state in 1960. The college has turned out scores of eminent sports persons besides giving the country several Olympians, she added.

Gurdaspur, December 5
The proposed setting up of the first urban estate, mini secretariat and judicial complex in this border district has become controversial due to political interference.

As many as 4,500 people, who had deposited nearly Rs 1.5 crore in a demand survey with PUDA, are feeling trapped as even after seven years they do not know when they would become owners of the plots.

PUDA had carried out a demand survey to establish the urban estate on 300 acres in 2002. However, the area was reduced to 155 acres for inexplicable reasons.

Chief Secretary SC Aggarwal had already clarified to the media that a meeting was held to discus the shifting of the district administrative complex (DAC) to another place.

It is learnt that Akali MLA Gurbachan Singh Babbehali, also Chairman, Milkfed, backed the shifting of the bus stand, judicial complex and the DAC to the site of the proposed urban estate.

According to sources, construction of these three establishments involving investment worth crores was expected to push up property prices in the surrounding areas. A number of investors, expecting the turnaround, had procured land around these sites, but shifting of the prestigious official complex would hit their investment hard.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal during his previous stint as the Chief Minister, on a visit to the town, had announced the construction of the DAC in December 2001. Later, the Animal Husbandry Department’s 10.65 acres land, located on the Jail road, was earmarked for the purpose and mutation was done in the name of the DAC.

Coincidentally, later Justice Kiran Nand Lal of the high court had also announced the construction of the judicial complex on 8.4 acres, opposite the site chosen for the mini secretariat.

Former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had laid the foundation stone for constructing the mini secretariat at a cost of Rs 35 crore in early 2006.

Chief Administrator, Greater Mohali Development Authority, VP Singh, who is holding the additional charge of PUDA, said he was not aware why the urban estate scheme was reduced from 300 acres to 155 acres. He said acquisition of land was completed only recently, which delayed the completion of the scheme. He said in case of shifting or maintaining of status quo, PUDA would abide by the decision of the government.

Babbehali said he had requested the Chief Minister and Chief Secretary to shift the bus stand, DAC and the judicial complex to the urban estate. He added that these three projects would need 20 acres out of 155 acres of the urban estate site. He claimed that neither he nor his relatives possessed any kind of land near the site.

Chandigarh, December 5
Hundreds of thousands of people belonging to the majority community and other communities who witnessed innocent Sikhs being massacred in 1984 should come forward and depose as eyewitnesses to get the victims the justice.

For how long the victims will have to wait for justice to be done, asks Jarnail Singh, a journalist and author of “I accuse”, a book about denial of justice to the “victims of the 1984 massacre of the Sikhs”.

He was here for the formal release of his book brought out by Penguin with an introduction by veteran journalist Khushwant Singh. Jarnail Singh, who shot into the limelight after he threw a shoe at the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram in protest against denial of answer to a question on Delhi anti-Sikh riots early this year, said though his act was “unethical” yet it was justified to remind the nation of its apathy towards the Sikh community.

Claiming that the Constitution of the country does not discriminate against people because of their religion, region, faith or belief then why the culprits of such an unprecedented crime against humanity could go scoot free while the victims continue to live with a deeply wounded psyche.

He said it was intriguing that even the prosecution agencies were looking for witnesses from amongst the families of the victims. “There must have been thousands or even lakhs of people who witnessed innocent Sikhs being butchered, killed or burnt to death in the streets of the union capital and some other places in the country. Unfortunately, not many have volunteered to come forward to give evidence in the court against those responsible for the worst ever crime in the history of the country. Are Sikhs not a part of the country that they are being denied justice for 25 long years?” asked Jarnail Singh.

It was sad that even those indicted by various committees and commissions were rewarded by the governments of the time rather than being prosecuted for their actions. Political rehabilitation of men like HKL Bhagat, Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler besides continuation and even promotions to police officers found guilty by various committees and commissions was like adding salt to the injury.

Bathinda, December 5
The penultimate day of the Virasat Mela of Malwa witnessed cultural celebrations, musical concerts, choreographies as well as rural sports.

Besides, the fair also had a special attraction for those who wanted to test their taste buds as the fresh ‘sarson da saag’ with ‘makki di roti’ was being served with ‘chaati di lassi’.

The events of Kabaddi, Tug-of-war, wrestling, discuss throw and hammer throw gained success in fetching crowds. The commentary of Kabaddi was delivered in such a lucid style that bounded all viewers to keep on standing for couple of hours.

The main attraction of the day, India-Pakistan wrestling competition, made both the wrestlers of both teams bouncing on the trampoline of confidence, which caught the fancy of the rural youth in a big way. Finally, India clinched the trophy.

During the celebrations some titles were also conferred upon. One Jaswinder Singh bagged title named Gabru Punjab Da and Gurpreet Singh remained Jawan-E-Punjab. Meanwhile, Gurjant Singh got honour for his adventurous presentation of ‘Bazi’ and Naresh Kumar was awarded for flying 101 kites with single thread.

A local troupe kept on presenting their ‘gatka’ skills for couple of hours.

Meanwhile, Pakistani singers who were to perform at the fair could not arrive at the venue as at the eleventh hour, organisers of the fair announced that they were denied permission to come to Bathinda considering the disturbance at Ludhiana

Patiala, December 5
The chief of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Longowal) and Tamil Nadu Governor’s wife Surjit Kaur Barnala has announced that their party would be contesting the elections for all 170 seats of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) members. 

Surjit Kaur Barnala said organisational set up of the SAD (Longowal) would be finalised by the end of this month and party would be fielding candidates on all 170 SGPC seats. Notably, there are total 185 Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee members, out of which 15 are nominated and rest are elected. The elections for members of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee will be held next year.

Speaking to mediapersons at the residence of Ranjit Singh Nikda, senior vice-president of the Shiromani Akali Dal (B), here yesterday, Surjit Kaur Barnalafurther demanded the implementation of the Gurdwara Act.

“Once the Gurdwara Act comes into force, the issue of having separate SGPC in other states would be resolved automatically”, she claimed, while accusing Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal of “deliberately” creating hurdles in implementation of the Gurdwara Act on account of his vested interests.

Continuing her verbal attacks on Badal, Surjit Kaur said perturbed with the unnecessary dominance of the Badal family, Taksali leaders were in constant touch with her party.

“The political picture of the state will be completely different in the coming few months”, she claimed, while targeting Badal for pursuing the interests of his family only. Tamil Nadu Governor Surjit Singh Barnala, however, refused to speak to the media.

After today’s visit of Surjit Kaur Barnala, now the speculations are rife in the political circles that many leaders having allegiance with the family of former Punjab Minister Late Capt Kanwaljit Singh are in touch with the Shiromani Akali Dal (Longowal).

Amritsar, December 5
Asserting that he had the highest respect for Akal Takht, which was supreme for him, former Akal Takht Jathedar Darshan Singh said today the Sikh high priests should not have “shied away” but come out in the open amid the sangat to discuss Panthic issues.

“Guru Granth Sahib is the Guru for me and I hold Akal Takht as the supreme seat and that is why I appeared before the Takht and not before a couple of persons in a closed-door room. During my tenure as the Akal Takht Jathedar I had never discussed any issue in a closed-door room.So what was the need for the high priests to do that in my case? In fact, they did not come out in the open amid the sangat even after I had left Akal Takht,” said Prof Darshan Singh while talking to The Tribune.

He also targeted a faction of the Sant Samaj and a couple of Sikh organisations, saying they did not have full respect for Guru Granth Sahib and that they were deviating from the teachings of the Sikh Gurus. “Why are the high priests saying that I should appear in the secretariat? I appeared at Akal Takht and they should have come there to discuss the Panthic issues with me,” said Prof Darshan Singh, adding that out of his respect for Akal Takht he had appeared before it along with his clarification.

Ludhiana, December 5
While deciding to be among agitators against a congregation of the Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan, Darshan Singh, who became the victim of police firing today, had not imagined in his wildest dreams that he would breathe his last today.

A 58-year-old autorickshaw driver from Lohara village here, Darshan Singh had told his family that they would remain with Baba Ranjit Singh Dhadrian wale throughout the day.

He had told them that they would partake of langar with the religious leader, who had called all his disciples to remain present today for a cause. However, he was hit by police bullets when they were trying to overpower agitators from marching towards the congregation venue. The bullets hit him in his abdomen and chest. He was left alone for some time, as nobody dared to reach him amidst the melee.

Later, his body was taken to the CMC hospital, where he was declared brought dead. His daughter Amandeep Kaur fainted as soon as she saw him dead.

“We never knew he will be killed. We came here as it was a summon from the God through the mouth of Baba Dhandrian wale,” said his wife Surjit Kaur.

She said he was a sole breadwinner of the family, who was also supporting his two sons, aged 12 and 14. They were in school and he used to fend for them by driving an autorickshaw.

Bathinda, December 5
The state Welfare Department, which serves about 35 per cent population of the Scheduled Castes (SCs), has been facing a severe staff shortage in several districts due to which the functioning of the department has reportedly been hit.

Sources in the department said in three districts, Muktsar, Moga and Nawanshahr, there were no sanctioned posts of district welfare officer (DWO) while out of 17 sanctioned posts, six were still lying vacant in other districts.

Thus, work in district welfare offices in nine districts of the state was being run by giving a dual charge to regular DWOs or by giving officiating charge to tehsil welfare officers.

The sources said there were 46 sanctioned posts of tehsil welfare officer in the state, of which 10 posts were still lying vacant.

Interestingly, the state has 77 tehsils, thus 31 tehsils have no sanctioned post of tehsil welfare officer.

An officer in the department said two posts of the deputy director had also been lying vacant for long, as these were to be filled by promotion. However, meetings of the Departmental Promotion Committee were reportedly postponed time and again. The department not only caters to the needs of the SCs, but it also serves students of minority and backward classes.

Chandigarh, December 5
The Punjab police wants the only son of the would-be surrogate mother to be recovered.

Amritsar resident Bharti Sehdev had earlier alleged her year-old child was kidnapped by an Ambala resident, she had initially agreed to rent her womb to for bearing a test-tube baby.

As she approached the top brass of the Punjab police, the Director-General of Police (DGP) asked the Amritsar Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) to ensure “the recovery of the child at the earliest and get a detailed inquiry done”. The DGP also asked the SSP to “finalise the case at the earliest and report”.

Bharti has also moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the state of Punjab, and other respondents for a thorough investigation into the case. Directions have also been sought for the recovery of their son, “Abhi”, from “illegal detention” of Parminder Singh Oberoi.

In her petition, Bharti Sehdev has asserted they came to know from a newspaper ad in November 2007 that Oberoi was interested in a test-tube baby. As they were suffering from financial crisis, she with her husband’s consent agreed to the offer.

“No amount whatsoever was fixed by the petitioner,” it was added.

Bharti Sehdev claimed she went along with Oberoi to a Sector 43 hospital for necessary tests for the test-tube baby.

During the tests, it was revealed that Bharti was already pregnant from her husband. As such, she promised Oberoi of help in the coming year after giving birth to the first child.

Abhi was born on October 25, 2008, from the “lawful wedlock”; and only in May-June, 2009, Bharti and Oberoi again went to a nursing home at Ludhiana. But medical tests revealed Oberoi was not capable of fathering a child.

Bharti added that Oberoi’s behaviour subsequently changed; and he “became rough and rude”.

Bharti started pressurising the petitioner to hand over the child to him, “as he could not get a test-tube baby”.

Bharti Sehdev added that on October 25, on the eve of Abhi’s birthday, Oberoi kidnapped him. 

Chandigarh, December 5
Aimed at preserving, promoting and disseminating the cultural heritage of the state, the Punjab Arts Council was established three decades ago. Though constitutionally an autonomous body, it has been at the mercy of the Punjab government for finances.

The council has three state academies, namely Punjab Sahit Akademi, Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi and Punjab Sangeet Natak Akademi. Surprisingly, four academies in Haryana were allotted Rs 3.5 crore against a paltry sum of Rs 6 lakh to three Punjab academies.

The council has organised programmes like Guru Shish Parampara to imparting training in traditional arts and heritage festivals in rural areas.

Master thespian Gursharan Singh told The Tribune that Punjab Kala Bhavan was not being put to optimum use despite the expenditure incurred on maintenance of building. Former president Sahitya Akademi and litterateur Dr Dalip Kaur Tiwana suggested to appointing heads in their respective realms.

She disclosed having published 40 books and holding equal number of functions during her tenure despite the financial crunch.

While journalist Gulzar Singh Sandhu feels that adequate funds, expertise and commitment are necessary for a productive output. Most writers feel that the governments have not been receptive to the needs of the institute.

However Geetika Kalha, principal secretary, Cultural Affairs, Punjab, assured to maintain the heritage of the institute.