Five days after Akal Takht's jathedar 'weapon' verdict, Punjab govt withdraws half of his security

|HT|

Five days after the Akal Takht acting jathedar asked Sikhs to keep a licensed weapon in view of the “uncertain times”; a remark that did not go down well with chief minister Bhagwant Mann; the Punjab government withdrew half of Giani Harpreet Singh’s security on Saturday. Six personnel, three from Bathinda police, and three from the India Reserve Battalion (IRB), a special armed force, were guarding the head of the highest Sikh temporal seat.

“This morning, we came to know that three personnel of Bathinda police have been called back by their senior officers,” Giani Harpreet Singh said over the phone. “We don’t need the rest of the personnel guarding us either. We have asked officials of Punjab Police to take back the IRB personnel also,” he said.

In a video message to the Sikh community on the 416th anniversary of Gurgaddi Diwas (anointment anniversary) of the sixth Sikh master, Guru Hargobind, on May 23, the Akal Takht jathedar had said: “Every Sikh should try to keep licensed weapons, because the time that is coming, and the circumstances which are going to prevail, demand it. The Sikh youth should be skilful in gatka (Sikh martial art) and shooting.” He, however, did not explain what circumstances he was referring to. “Jathedar Sri Akal Takht Sahib ji, your statement about weapons... Jathedar ji, you should send across Gurbani’s message of ‘sarbat da bhala’ (welfare of all) to every house instead of that of possessing weapons. Jathedar sahab, we should give the message of peace, brotherhood and modern development rather than of modern weapons,” the chief minister had tweeted, taking note of his remark.

Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and his BJP counterpart Ashwani Sharma took exception to Giani Harpreet Singh’s statement, but Shiromani Akali Dal leaders had backed the jathedar.

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)