AAP government trying to hush up 2015 sacrilege issue, says Punjab Congress chief

Chandigarh, July 3

Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring on Sunday accused the AAP-led government of trying to hush up the matter of 2015 sacrilege incidents related to the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of Sikhs.

Warring’s statement came a day after the final report of the Punjab Police on the 2015 desecration cases pinned blame on Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday had handed over the 467-page report of the special investigation team (SIT) of the Punjab Police to Sikh leaders, including Chamkaur Singh and Major Singh Pandori.

Reacting to the SIT report, Warring on Sunday alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party government in the state was trying to hush up the sacrilege cases.

“Handing over the report to religious leaders does not certify it of any sanctity or truthfulness and the matter of fact is that you are trying to hush up the matter for the reasons best known to you,” said the Congress leader.

The @PunjabGovtIndia has betrayed the expectations it had raised among people who voted it to power.
We are back to square one, as what the @Akali_Dal_ could not do, the @AAPPunjab did by giving clean chit to all those, whom the entire Punjab knows are fully of sacrilege.

— Amarinder Singh Raja Warring (@RajaBrar_INC) July 3, 2022

“The AAP government has betrayed all the expectations it had raised among people who voted it to power,” Warring said while warning the government against serious ramifications as the issue is related to emotions and sentiments of millions and millions of Sikhs and followers of Guru Granth Sahib, world over.

Warring, who is the legislator from Gidderbaha, said the AAP government was “following the script” of the then Shiromani Akali Dal government, which had also tried to hush up the matter.

“The way the Akalis had handed over the case to the CBI, apparently to hush it up, as it failed to find anything and identify the culprits, same way the AAP has scripted a report that seeks to exonerate the real culprits,” he said.

 “We are back to square one, as what the Akalis could not do, the AAP did by giving clean chit to all those, whom the entire Punjab knows are the guilty of sacrilege,” he said.

“The Punjab Congress will go back to the people and ensure that justice is done in a case that concerns each and every Punjabi and in which some precious lives were lost,” said Warring.

The SIT led by Inspector General of Police SPS Parmar investigated the incidents and submitted the report to the state DGP on April 21.

The incidents related to the theft of a ‘bir’ (copy) of the Guru Ganth Sahib, putting up handwritten sacrilegious posters and torn pages of the holy book found scattered at Bargari, had taken place in Faridkot in 2015.

These incidents had led to protests in Faridkot. In the police firing at protesters in October 2015, two persons were killed in Behbal Kalan while some others were injured at Kotkapura in Faridkot.

According to the report, Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim has been named in three desecration incidents.

As per the report, the motive behind the three cases “is having a direct link with the Dera Sacha Sauda and the accused persons who are involved in these cases are followers of the said dera”.

“It is evident from material/evidence collected by the SIT of the Punjab Police that the accused were having direct nexus with the management of the dera. The motive behind the incidents was also having a link with the movie ‘MSG-2’,” as per the report.

In 2015, the then SAD-BJP government had handed over the three cases to the CBI for probe.

The Punjab government had handed over the probe to an SIT of the state police in September 2018 after the state Assembly passed a resolution withdrawing consent to the CBI to investigate these cases, noting lack of progress in the investigation.