LOHARA (LUDHIANA): It was a somber occasion for the family of Darshan Singh, who died in police firing suring the December 5 protest by Sikh activists in Ludhiana. But before the Bhog function held here on Monday ended, there was nearly Rs 40 lakh in compensation paid to the family of the poor auto-rickshaw driver.
The money came in from the government as well as radical Sikh organizations, both trying to woo the family caught in a sensitive situation ahead of the upcoming SGPC elections.
While the Sikh organizations want the family’s support to carry on their tirade against the SAD government, the latter would like to silence the whole issue as early as possible.
A day after Darshan Singh’s funeral, his son Gurmeet Singh joined the Punjab Police as a constable on December 7. Even as he did not meet the physical requirements, those were waived by the DGP in accordance with government orders to offers him a job. He is currently home on leave.
Over the past few days, there has been a stream of government officials as well as high-profile radical Sikh leaders visiting the family house in this village.
Om Monday morning, a battery of government officials and SAD leaders visited the house ahead of the Bhog ceremony . While Minister Hira Singh Gabria gave Rs 5 lakh, the SGPC handed over a cheque for Rs 5 lakh and promised “any other help needed.”
In the afternoon, Sikh leaders walked in. The UK cell of Dal Khalsa, Akand Kirtani Jatha and the Sikh Federation together contributed Rs 5 lakh; Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee president Paramjit Singh Sarna gave Rs 2.5 lakh; Damdami Taksal Rs 50,000; Ranjit Singh Dardriana Rs 1 lakh; and a France-based Sikh body gave Rs1 lakh. There were also many other organizations that gave varying amounts of money to Darshan Singh’s family.
Akand Kirtni Jatha leader R.P Singh declared Darshan Singh was a martyr of the Sikh community. “I, on behalf of UK-based Sikhs, announce that if the family does not accept the government job, and remains with us, we will settle the whole family in any foreign country or anywhere in India they want. We will weigh the family against currency, but they should follow the path Darshan Singh took,” he said.
Among the speaker at the Bhog ceremony were Damdami Taksal head Harnam Singh Khalsa, former Akal Takht Jathedars Ranjit Singh and Jasbir Singh Rode, DSGMC president Paramjit Singh Sarna, SAD (Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Mann, Dal Khalsa leader Satnam Singh Paunta Sahib, Sant Samaj head Sarbajot Singh Bedi, and Khalsa Action Committee convenor Mohkam Singh. All of them condemned Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal as “anti-Pathic”.
SOURCE-HT
taken from : punjabnews.org
SikhsIndia
www.sohnijodi.com
www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment