SGPC Chief Holds Protest Over Missing ‘Saroop’

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Gobind Singh Longowal on Saturday held a protest in front of the office of Patiala SSP and accused Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh and Patiala MP Preneet Kaur of remaining mute spectators and even refusing to comfort the Sikh Sangat, which is in turmoil after a ‘saroop’ of Sri Guru Granth Sahib was stolen from Ardaspura Sahib Gurdwara near CM’s Moti Mohal residence in Patiala.

The SGPC president said 17 days have passed since the historic ‘saroop’ was stolen from the gurdwara, but shockingly the CM and his wife Preneet Kaur have not spoken a single word to condemn this dastardly act. He warned the district police to recover the ‘saroop’ immediately and arrest those responsible for this heinous crime, failing which the SGPC would be forced to agitate more forcefully to ensure justice in the case.

Longowal said the theft of the ‘saroop’ is another effort in the long line of steps being taken by anti-Sikh forces to weaken the Sikh panth as well as its representative bodies, including the SGPC and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). He said some ‘jathebandis’ are also playing into the hands of the Congress party. He said the same organisations were used by the Congress to divide the Sikh community following sacrilege cases and that they are again playing into the hands of the Congress by remaining silent about the theft of the ‘saroop’ from Kalyan village.

He also led a delegation, comprising senior SGPC members Rajinder Singh Mehta, Gurbaksh Singh Khalsa, Harinder Singh Dhami and Kuldeep Kaur Tohra, to the SSP office and submitted a memorandum demanding recovery of the ‘saroop’ and arrest of the culprits.

In a brief media interaction, Bhai Longowal said the SGPC has been forced to protest because the district police has taken the heinous crime casually and not made the required efforts to nab the perpetrators.

Earlier, at the dharna site, the sangat recited ‘Satnam waheguru’ and expressed its angst against the district police and administration as well as Congress ministers and legislators of the area for neither condemning the incident nor visiting Ardaspura Sahib Gurdwara to express solidarity with the sangat. Senior leader Gurcharan Singh Grewal announced that in case the administration does not deliver results, the SGPC would announce its next line of action on August 18.

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