The Sikh community in Jammu and Kathua districts today held protest demonstrations and blocked the Jammu-Pathankot highway at different places against the killing of two Sikh activists in the police firing following desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib in the Kotkapura area of Punjab.
The protesters also torched effigies of the Akali-BJP coalition and the Punjab Police and demanded registration of an FIR under section 302 IPC against the responsible policemen.
They also sought a compensation of Rs 50 lakh each for the victims’ families.
In Jammu, Sikh activists from various organisations led by District Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee members held protest outside Gurdwara Digiana Ashram. They blocked the highway and burnt effigies of the Punjab Government and the state’s police.
The protesters chanted slogans against the Akali-BJP dispensation and the Punjab Police and held them responsible for the shooting incident in the Kotkapura area of Faridkot.
DGPC member Avtar Singh Khalsa condemned the killing and lashed out at Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for breaching the communal harmony.
“Sentiments of Sikhs have been brutally hit. We express full sympathy with the people of Punjab and demand strict action against those who desecrated the holy Guru Granth Sahib,” Khalsa said.
The members of the community also held protest in Digiana under the banner of the United Sikh Council. Led by council chairman Kuldeep Singh, the protestors raised slogans against the Punjab Government and the Punjab Police for resorting to firing on the Sikh activists.
Following the protests, traffic on the highway remained disrupted for hours together, leading to traffic jam.
A joint meeting of the management committee of Gurdwara Baba Chanda Singh; J&K Sikh Progressive Front; Desh Bhagat Yadgaar Committee; management committee of Gurdwara Charan Kamal Asthan Guru Nanak Dev Ser Manjila; and Nirvair, a social organisation, was also held where the participants condemned the desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib and demanded the arrest of those responsible for the act.The Sikh community in Kathua also held protest demonstrations against the sacrilegious act and killing of the Sikh activists.
The protesters blocked the Jammu-Pathankot highway at Hatli Morh and disrupted vehicular movement.
