Amritsar, August 31
A long-pending demand by the residents and traders associated with the tourism industry may see the light of day as the Railway Ministry is considering extension of the Amritsar-Chandigarh Superfast Express up to Kalka.

In response to a communication received by Congress MLA Om Parkash Soni to Railway Minister DV Sadananda Gowda over the matter, the latter said he would the demand examined.

Civil society, social activists besides players in the tourism sector here have been pressing for linking the holy city by rail to Kalka to connect it with Himachal Pradesh tourism circuit in general and Shimla in particular. A social activist Dr AL Adlakha said the train would offer a fillip to the hospitality industry, including tour and travel agencies as a large number of pilgrims visiting the holy city would be able to utilise the connectivity.

Earlier, he shot off a communiqué regarding the demand to various political leaders and the Railways requesting they consider the extension.

He said before the mid 80s, there used to be a regular train, Amritsar-Kalka Mail, which catered to the passengers of all prominent stations in Punjab on the route.

It may be mentioned here that earlier the Amritsar-Chandigarh Superfast Express used to be called Duronto. However, Duronto was converted into the present inter-city superfast train because of the former turning out to be financially non-viable since the occupancy in the train used to be persistently low.

The re-launched Amritsar-Chandigarh superfast train did not touch Kalka, which was only 32 km away from Chandigarh. He recalled that the train was immensely useful for students of various boarding schools like Lawrence School, Sanawar, Army Public School, Dagshai, and Bishop Cotton School, which are situated in the beautiful valleys of the Himalayas.

The train also used to serve as a connection from Punjab to various hill stations of Himachal Pradesh thereby creating a tourist circuit. The train was also used for transporting fresh vegetables from the hill stations to various parts of the state. Unfortunately, the train was stopped in 1984 and was never revived.

Similar, demand is emanating from Kalka town also. A Kalka based Shivalik Vikas Manch forwarded a memorandum to the then Railway Minister Mamta Banerjee seeking resumption of Kalka-Amritsar train in 2010. 

Amritsar, August 31
Family members of Harjit Singh (17), who allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree yesterday, today held a demonstration at the Amritsar-Jalandhar road near New Amritsar after keeping his body on the road.

They were agitating against the role of the Tarn Taran police which ultimately forced his son to take the extreme step of ending his life. Harjit Singh, a resident of Sultanwind village, was perturbed over the false charges of theft following which he along with his friend Ravinder Singh Kaalu was arrested by the Tarn Taran police a few days ago following a complaint by a councillor and a SAD leader.

They were allegedly subjected to inhuman torture and released yesterday after the police failed to achieve any breakthrough in the case. Since his release, he was depressed. He was not speaking to anyone in the family or outside, said his family members who demanded action against the accused police officials who had falsely arrested him.

The Sultanwind police took his body in possession late last evening and handed over the same to the family after post-mortem examination today. Soon after taking the body in their possession, the family went outside the New Amritsar area and staged a protest. The father of the deceased Harpal Singh said Harjit was accompanying Kaalu who was a driver of a four- wheeler to deliver some material to Surinder Pal in Tarn Taran when they were arrested by the Tarn Taran police. He was released following the intervention of Kaalu's employer and family members of the victim.

He said yesterday, the people in the area informed him that Harjit's body was hanging from a tree in the nearby fields. “We immediately reached the spot and were shocked to see him in this condition. The police should immediately arrest the officials who kept them in illegal detention and subjected them to inhuman torture. Family members and relatives also raised slogans against the police while the traffic also took a hit during the protest that lasted till late in the evening till a case was registered.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Bal Kishan Singla reached the spot and assured the family members of appropriate action. "Whatever action is to be taken will be done after post-mortem examination report," he said while adding that they were taking a complaint from the family members also.

The family members of Harjit Singh lifted the dharna at around 10.30 pm after the police suspended three cops of Daburji police post falling under the jurisdiction of Tarn Taran police. Among those placed under suspension include post in-charge Iqbal Singh.

The investigation in the suicide case of Harjit Singh was handed over to the city police. The residents were adamant on the registration of a case against the accused cops who allegedly picked up Harjit along with his friend Ravinder Singh Kaalu in a theft case lodged by a SAD leader. The protest continued for over six hours during which they kept the body of the deceased on the road.

Amritsar, August 31
Much to the dismay of environmentalists, trees continue to get chopped by the authorities in the name of development. Today, the chopping off fully grown trees to widen the stretch near the Central Jail was noticed. A couple of days earlier, an old peepal tree near Trilium Mall was axed.

Development in the holy city is taking a heavy toll on the green cover, much to the resentment of the environmentalists and local residents. They are peeved at the authorities despite the fact that they have already started compensating for the loss by planting a large number of saplings.

Deepak Babbar of Mission Aagaaz said members of his NGO spotted the axing of trees on Airport Road and a couple of days back, pulling down of a sacred peepal tree on the Circular Road.

"Over 4,500 to 5,000 trees are to be axed to pave the way for various development projects. According to estimates, over 2,000 trees and plants must have been damaged while carrying out work on various development projects like the BRTS, flyover at Kitchlew Chowk, elevated road, widening of Circular road and roads in the bypass areas,” he said.

Various environmental NGOs of Amritsar protested at all levels but in spite of verbal assurances, the rampant cutting of tress continued. The centuries-old trees like banyan, peepal, mulberry, jamun, shisham and various other full-grown, healthy and sacred trees were axed mercilessly and saplings of palm trees have been replanted in lieu of these.

Another environmentalist Gurbhej Singh Sandhu said recently, during a general house meeting chaired by Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora, a resolution was passed to allow axing of as many as 368 big trees and 30 small trees on both sides of Mecleod Road (from Aerodrome road to GT road) to widen it. Similarly, the Forest Department has allowed the PWD (B&R) to axe 142 trees on the GT Road from Bhandari Bridge to Guru Nanak Dev University. These include many trees, which create no hindrance of any sort.

He said the compensation would not be completed just by planting of saplings as it would take at least two decades to grow them up. He said there was no certainty that the government agencies would secure its maintenance for such a long period. Hence, it was painful to see full-grown trees being chopped off as it takes decades for them to attain this growth.

Meanwhile, the government agencies said they were adequately compensating for the green loss by planting more trees than were being chopped off. The Municipal Corporation announced planting of 10,000 saplings in different parts of the city to augment the green cover.

Similarly, Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT) recently initiated a project to plant 20,000 saplings by planting saplings in the Ranjeet Avenue area.

The AIT would incur an expenditure of Rs 40 lakh which includes two-year maintenance cost of trees and its guards. Under the project, saplings over 10 feet high would be planted. These saplings are being planted at Ranjeet Avenue, New Amritsar and Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Mall Mandi scheme area of the AIT.

Amritsar, August 31
Even as the SGPC has temporarily deferred its cleanliness drive around Golden Temple in the wake of Parkash Utsav of Guru Granth Sahib tomorrow, yet it has already prepared its special task force to carry out cleanliness in and around the Golden Temple galliara after two days.

The MC too has offered its services and introduced amendments and additions in its cleanliness job during deliberations held between SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar and MC Commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal a couple of days ago.

SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar said the cleanliness drive which was scheduled for tomorrow has been postponed as the staff would be busy in the preparations of the Parkash Utsav.

Under a special cleanliness drive, the SGPC has given a call to the residents and volunteers to join hands in its move to make the surroundings of Golden Temple spic and span.

The residents have been told to collect their domestic refuse in polythene bags, only to be handed over to the SGPC's sanitation team who would be making rounds of the streets twice or thrice a day.

"Otherwise, we have already done our homework for the cleanliness drive. A task force of 20 dedicated persons would be there for the removing garbage. Our focus will not only to clean the galliara area but also to approach the streets that lead to the shrine. We have been assured by the MC officials for all cooperation. Even if need be, we will be providing garbage collection bags to the residents too," he said.

Initially, four major areas will be on the MC's work list. They are the approach road from Hall Gate to the Golden Temple, the Golden Temple to Sikandri Gate; and Ghee Mandi to Sheranwala Gate.

Besides this, workforce of around 40 safai karamcharis, 18 new dustbins, two auto-rickshaw garbage carriers, four garbage collecting tractor-trolleys have been spared for the service. Besides this six cycle rickshaws and 10 handcarts too would be pressed into service.

MC Commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal said with the SGPC coming in to this, the results would be multi-times better.

"I believe that if the residents themselves imbibe in them a civic sense to honour others'rights and make it their point not to litter the surroundings, it would be an added advantage to maintain hygiene. SGPC's reach among the residents is immense and beyond doubt, I can say that it would be helpful in transforming their nature. Our cleanliness schedule would be from 6 am to 2 pm and from 2 pm to 10 pm. We would be stick to this timetable until unless there is some extreme emergency like rain or so," he said. 

Amritsar, August 31
The sale of substandard and unhygienic food on city roads is a cause of concern for the residents and thousands of tourists visiting the holy city every day.

The test reports of the food samples collected by the Health Department indicate that all is not well with the food served in the city. The unhygienic eateries on roadside don’t require any test as insanitary conditions are quite visible.

Poor men trying to earn a living are not the only people who sell substandard and unhygienic food. Even the places where one needs to carry a hefty wallet have been found to be selling poor quality food.

The city has a culture of eating out and people can be seen relishing food at rhehris. Dozens of cars can be seen parked in front of these rhehris but nobody bothers to check the conditions in which the food is cooked.

Even as the government has the responsibility of setting things right, the residents are also required to take some initiative. Only then, the tendency of cooking unhygienic food will be curbed.

Amritsar, August 31
The homecoming of the 22-year-old powerlifter Lovedeep Singh was marked with celebrations as the junior Indian powerlifter returned with a gold medal from the AWPC (Amateur World Power-lifting Congress) World Powerlifting Championship, which was held from August 20 to 24, 2014, in Moscow.

He defeated professional powerlifters from across the world and won the gold medal in 125 kg weight category. He lifted a total of 710 kg in his three lifts- 270kg squat, 180kg bench press and 260 kg dead lift.

Lovedeep will participate at the national level and will try to break the junior national record this year.

The city-based sportsman is the first Indian junior powerlifter to compete at the global platform. He credited his success to his hard work, determination and his coach Vishal Khanna, who is also an international powerlifter.

Excited and confident post his win, Lovedeep was received by his family and friends amidst celebrations.

“I am really proud of my young student. He has been training very hard and will now aim for higher records and feats,” said Vishal Khanna, who runs a professional powerlifting academy in the city.

Considering that the sport doesn’t find much popularity in India but is followed quite competitively in Europe and US, Lovedeep’s win also comes as an encouragement.

“Many budding powerlifters from different states have come up for training in the city now because of the growing popularity of the sport. I hope we produce many more powerlifters in future,” he said. 

Amritsar, August 31
The concluding day of the four-day theatre festival organised at Punjab Natshala was about the most complex relationships of all — marriage. ‘Tuhanun Kehra Rang Psand Hai’ (Which colour do you like?) was a two-hour long dialogue between a man and his super-ego on marriage, morality and sex. The play explored various aspects of being married.

Bringing out the hypocrisy in the man-woman relationship and the necessity of being committed, playwright Pali Bhupinder Singh’s powerful script was brought on stage by Sparsh Theatre Group. Directed by Gaurav Vij, the play depicted the anger, helplessness, irony and the happiness of a married person through personal introspection.

The concluding day also summarised the four-day festival with an array of plays depicting various colours of life.

“We are quite happy with the response and admiration received from the audience here. The aim of the festival was to bring together four different stories picked up from the works of some finest playwrights and put together in an entertaining mix of theatre for Amritsar,” said Gaurav Vij, director and head of Sparsh Theatre Society, Abohar. axJatinder Brar of Punjab Natshala was also pleased by the response and the successful conduct of the festival. All the actors and members of Sparsh Theatre Society were honoured by the theatre fraternity.

Amritsar, August 31
In an attempt to demarcate the religious boundaries between the Sikhs and Hindus, radical Sikh organisation Dal Khalsa has called upon the Sikhs to shun Brahmanical rituals and oppose the RSS attempts to brand Sikhs as Hindus “in a befitting manner”.

To counter the claim that Sikhism is the sword arm of Hinduism, the hardliners led by Dal Khalsa held a seminar today at its party head office. The speakers warned that utterances and actions of the RSS would further radicalise the atmosphere.

The gathering passed a resolution stating that Sikhs are a separate religion with a distinct identity. Sikhs are not Hindus and Punjab rightfully belongs to Sikhs.

The recent statement of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s, “India is a Hindu nation and Hindutva is its identity”, has heightened the tension between the Sikhs and the RSS.

The RSS attempt to suggest a different way of looking at the question of Sikh identity has aroused strong opposition.

Commenting on the RSS agenda for the “Hindu Rashtra”, Dal Khalsa spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh categorically said though the RSS was free to create “Hindu Rashtra”, one thing was clear that Punjab would not be its part.

In response to RSS’s cultural attack, he said the sectarian lines between Indians and non-Indians must be drawn. “We are clear that Sikhs are on the other side,” he said.

He criticised the Akali leadership for striking an alliance with the Hindutva forces. “It was the Sikh leadership that allowed the RSS and the BJP to have a field day in Punjab. The tenth Guru sacrificed his sons for the sake of the Panth, but today’s leaders were sacrificing Panthic interests for the future of their sons,” he said.

The Dal Khalsa leader said it was the Hindutva brand of politics practised by a “lunatic Brahaminical minority”, which compelled them to take extreme steps.

He lambasted the RSS for interfering in the internal affairs of the Sikhs. “The Congress harmed Sikhs physically by getting hundreds of them killed, but the BJP was hitting at the roots and foundations of the Sikh religion,” he said.

Prof Jagmohan Singh, a human rights activist, delivered a speech on the role of youth in shaping the present and future of the community.

The speakers were of the view that the success of the BJP in the polls had emboldened the RSS to rekindle the Hindutva agenda in other parts of the India.