The dastardly videos of the lynching of Lakhbir Singh (a Dalit Sikh) by Nihangs for allegedly desecrating their holy book ‘Sarbloh Granth’ sent chills and gave rise to huge outrage with many comparing his death to the Taliban style execution.
Videos after videos and images after images floated on every social media platform showing Lakhbir in his final moments writhing in pain as Nihangs chopped his wrist and thrashed him brutally before hanging him upside down on a pole.
While social media users found it difficult to watch the heart wrenching videos, Lakhbir’s family is unsurprisingly in a state of shock, haunted by the videos of their son begging for his life.
‘He was the biggest believer of Babaji‘
Lakhbir’s inconsolable wife Jaspreet Kaur (35) said while speaking to ThePrint, “Lakhbir can never desecrate the Sarbloh Granth, he was the biggest believer of Guru Gobind Singh.”
Lakhbir is survived by his estranged wife and three daughters. Though the two separated due to Lakhbir’s bad habits, Kaur vouched for her deceased husband and said she has no doubt Lakhbir was innocent.
“I can say this with absolute surety that he could never insult our Granth,” she repeated.
‘No Granth directs anybody to kill a person‘
Unable to come to terms with Lakhbir’s lynching, Harnaam Singh (75) who adopted him as a child after he lost his parents demanded proof of allegations smeared on his son.
“My son was the biggest believer of Guruji. I want to ask the Nihangs… they could make a video of them killing my son, but the allegations on which he was killed, do they have any proof of that?” he questioned.
“What proof did they have that Lakhbir desecrated the Sarbloh Granth? You want me to believe that there were CCTV cameras at Singhu, thousands of people with phones, such a big incident happened, and nobody made any video of Lakhbir running with the Granth?” Harnaam added further.
Saying that such merciless killing can never be justified, Harnaam said, “Even if I agree with the allegations levelled at him, it wasn’t justified to kill him. We also follow the same Granth and no Granth directs anybody to kill a person. He’s begging for his life in the horrific video, but still the Nihangs let him bleed to death.”
The old Sikh reiterated that Lakhbir could never take such a step and opined that even if he did, he should have been handed over to the police. “Even an animal wouldn’t do this (killing),” cried an old Harnaam.
‘I suspect foul play‘
Harnaam further revealed that Lakhbir had never traveled alone and said that he had never been to Delhi. “How could he reach Delhi with Rs 50-100 in his pocket?” said Harnaam revealing that he had borrowed Rs 100 from his sister 4-5 days ago.
Lakhbir’s wife informed that he used to work for some ship companies in Mumbai and Kolkata and that he was always accompanied by at least 20-30 other boys.
“I suspect foul play in this entire incident. We demand a thorough investigation into what actually happened with my son,” demanded Harnaam.
‘We have no remorse for what happened. We are not sorry‘
Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Committee leader Tarlochan Singh in a shocking statement claimed that they are not sorry for what happened with Lakhbir Singh.
When asked if lynching someone for sacrilege was justified, Tarlochan said, “Yes, absolutely. For us, our religion, our faith, our Granth holds more value than a person’s life.”
“We have no remorse for what happened. We will do it again if anyone touches our Granth, doesn’t matter if he is a government agent or some minister himself,” added the committee leader.
‘He was a government stooge‘
The Nihangs and other Sikh committees after killing one of their own have pinned the blame on the central government.
“Lakhbir was made a scapegoat by the government to defame Sikhs and finish the farmers’ protest,” believes Tarlochan. “The central government tried their best to defame and end the farmers’ protest but they couldn’t do it. So, now they found this way,” he alleged.
Tarlochan said that Lakhbir’s lynching was to give a loud and clear message to the government. “We have taken enough injustice but never said a word. They called us terrorists, Khalistanis but we didn’t attack them. Don’t misunderstand our strength as our weakness. We can kill for our faith,” claimed the Sikh.
Ironically, the Nihangs and its supporters are attacking the center repeatedly while citing examples of sacrilege that occurred at the time of the Badal government.
“This was not the first incident of desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib. People who insulted our Granth before were given protection by the Badal government,” said Tarlochan declaring that they will no longer wait for the police or government to take action against the perpetrators.
“We could have let Lakhbir go yesterday, but we knew that he wouldn’t have gotten any punishment. We have lost trust and that’s why our men had to take law into their own hands and do justice. We are not hiding that we killed him, but we are not sorry,” concluded Tarlochan.
Dalit organizations demand probe
Over 21 Dalit organizations from across the country have approached the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and sought an extensive probe into the murder of Lakhbir Singh at the Singhu border by Nihang Sikhs.
As per the report published in Economic Times, the organizations have asked for a time-bound investigation into the matter. Furthermore, they have asked for punishment for all those who are involved in the murder of the Dalit Sikh at farmer protests’ site.
Vijay Sampla, chairperson, NCSC, condemned sacrilege or disrespect of the text and said it is a severe offence among Sikhs, but “no one has the right to take the law into his hands”. He added, “We’ve already sent a notice to DGP Haryana and the chief secretary to take strict action on it and asked for a return report via fax.”
