In second visit to sacrilege site shrine, whiff of his first rebellion.
Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu Saturday visited Gurdwara Burj Jawahar Singh Wala in Faridkot, from where a copy of the Guru Granth Sahib was stolen in 2015, and prayed that those involved in the desecration of the holy book be given exemplary punishment that will be “a deterrent for generations to come”.
The vents that unfolded following the theft of the Guru Granth Sahib led to political upheaval in the state. It has continued to remain at the centre of Punjab politics for last six years.
“Ardas at gurdwara saheb Burj Jawahar Singh wala, Bargari. Praying for exemplary punishment for those involved in the sacrilege of Guru Granth Saheb ji . should be a deterrent for generations to come!,” tweeted Sidhu.
Sidhu’s visit to the gurdwara came a day after he withdrew his resignation as Punjab Congress chief and targeted his party-led state government over the sacrilege case. This is his second visit to the shrine in less than seven months.
Sidhu had last visited this gurdwara on April 13 and had taken on his own party’s government, then led by Capt Amarinder Singh.
“More Law, Less Justice. Justice Delayed is Justice Denied,” Sidhu had tweeted during his first visit. Apparently targeting Amarinder for failing to fulfil the oath he had taken while holding gutka sahib – to eradicate the drug menace and put those responsible for sacrilege behind bars – he had said, “One who is not true to Guru, can’t be true to Punjab. Guru is soul of Punjab”.
Stating that the way report of Justice Ranjit Singh Commission was made public, another one prepared by the Punjab Police SIT led by IG Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, now retired, too should be made public.
The open rebellion bu Sidhu against his party’s government over the sacrilege and drugs issue, gained momentum following his visit to the gurdwara at Burj Jawahar Singh Wala in April, eventually led to resignation of Amarinder from CM’s post.
Now, Sidhu has locked horn with new CM Charanjit Singh Channi on the same issues and is not happy with the appointments made to the post of Advocate General (A P S Deol) and the DGP (Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota).
During a press conference on Friday, Sidhu had questioned the Channi-led government over the steps taken for the delivery of justice in sacrilege cases and making public the special task force report in drug cases in the past 50 days. Sidhu also said that he would assume charge as Punjab Congress chief the day the new advocate general and a panel for the appointment of the new director general of police is appointed.
While Channi government is focusing on the populist schemes with only a couple of months left for Assembly elections, Sidhu’s fresh visit to the Burj Jawahar Singh Wala is being considered as an attempt by the cricketer-turned-politician to keep the sacrilege issue in the center of state politics.
While Sahota was the head of the special investigation team (SIT) formed by the previous SAD-BJP government to probe the sacrilege incidents, Deol had represented former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini, who headed the state police six years ago, in cases related to sacrilege incidents and police firing on protesters.
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