A man was lynched to death on allegations of desecration at Darbar Sahib (the Golden Temple) on Saturday, December 18. The video of his lifeless body being brought out of the temple has gone viral.
If you want lynch mob justice then what is the difference between the mob at Sialkot that killed an innocent SriLankan man and people today who killed the culprit of sacrilege at the holy Golden Temple? Cold barbaric killing that too at the most pious place of worship of Sikhs. pic.twitter.com/yNwiK9mvBj
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) December 18, 2021
However, many politicians have focussed only on the alleged sacrilege while maintaining deafening silence over the lynching of a man on these allegations. Instead of condemning the mob violence in as many words, the statements by politicians seem to be focussing only on the alleged sacrilege.
Former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh termed the incident of attempted sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji at Darbar Sahib as horrific. He demanded the government to go to the bottom of the fact.
“Govt must get to the bottom of what led this man to act in such a despicable manner,” Amarinder Singh in a tweet.
Strongly condemn the horrific incident of attempted sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji at Darbar Sahib.
— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) December 18, 2021
Govt must get to the bottom of what led this man to act in such a despicable manner!
He did not mention even once that the mob should not have taken law into their own hands.
Yes, it was definitely a terror attack at Darbar Sahib today ! The terrorist grabbed the sword and would have attacked the priests & congregation if not overpowered!
— ravinder singh (@RaviSinghKA) December 18, 2021
I would like to know who sent and motivated him, they must be found too !
Founder of Khalsa Aid, one of the NGOs that had explicitly supported and provided logistic support to the recently concluded ‘farmer protests’ at the Delhi borders, termed the incident of ‘sacrilege’ as ‘a terror act’. He then said how he would like to know who sent the man to carry out sacrilege and what motivated him. Except, in a twisted fate, it would perhaps be hard to know because the ‘congregation’ decided to give mob justice and kill him instead of handing him over to police like one would expect in a civilised world.
अमृतसर में श्री दरबार साहिब में जो बे-अदबी करने का प्रयास किया गया, मैं इस घटना की कड़ी निंदा करता हूं। यह घटना अत्यंत निंदनीय है। इस घटना की पूरी जांच होनी चाहिए।
— Ashwani Sharma (@AshwaniSBJP) December 18, 2021
BJP Punjab State President Ashwani Sharma, too, condemned the ‘sacrilege’ and asked for investigation. He, too, stayed silent on the man’s lynching.
There were strong indications of such an incident after Gutka Sahib was thrown in holy Sarovar but the state govt and intelligence agencies did nothing to prevent such a despicable crime that intended to disturb peace & communal harmony in Punjab. 2/2
— Sukhbir Singh Badal (@officeofssbadal) December 18, 2021
Former Punjab CM Sukhbir Badal, too, condemned the ‘sacrilege’, but stayed mum on the lynching. In fact, the called it a deeprooted conspiracy that has ‘shaken the entire Sikh quom’.
Punjab DCP Rampal Singh even referred to the lynching as ‘altercation’.
*DCP Parminder Singh Bhandal (name corrected), Amritsar: Today, one 24-25-year-old man barged inside (Golden Temple) where the holy book (Guru Granth Sahib) is kept. He tried desecrating it with a sword; was taken out by Sangat people; died in the altercation. pic.twitter.com/phbsqXVp6M
— ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2021
DCP Parminder Singh Bhandal said how the man who ‘barged inside’ the Golden Temple where the Guru Granth Sahib is kept and tried desecrating it with sword. He said how the man was ‘taken out by Sangat people’ where he ‘died in the altercation’.
Some even described the lynching as ‘justice delivered’.
Have Sikhs trusted govt for justice in sacrilege cases in past?- Yes
— Amaan (@amaanbali) December 18, 2021
The onus is on the govt of India and not Sikh Sangat. The justice has been delivered. It is time for govt to introspect and time for Sikhs to introspect about Gurdwara securities all over.
Avoid Rumours.
Bali has often identified himself as a journalist and has been quite a vocal voice in the recently concluded farmer protests. He also suggested that the Indian ‘liberals’ should not question the ‘Panth’.
The people who are concerned about the sanctity of Darbar Sahib getting violated by killing of a man are the ones who also defend operation Bluestar & killing of Sikhs on the eve of Gurpurab in Darbar Sahib. Indian lib/Right has no moral standing to question Panth. Don’t let them
— Amaan (@amaanbali) December 19, 2021
Amritsar lynching incident over ‘sacrilege’
On Saturday, a 23-24 year old man was lynched to death by a mob over allegations of sacrilege inside the Golden Temple, Amritsar.
The video of the incident suggests that he was standing calmly with the sangat in the sanctum sanctorum for darshan.
इसका इरादा गलत था इसने बाऊंड्री फलांगी और चांदी का तलवार उठाई ये कौन था क्यों किया ऐसा जांच करिये , दुख और संकट की स्थिति देश की एकता में ऐसे हादसे बाधा डालते हैं pic.twitter.com/KkPH5Zggbw
— सुधा भवानी (लेखक विचारक वक्ता)🇮🇳🕉🙏🐯🏑☕🌞🌷🐄 (@SudhaRaje) December 18, 2021
But as his turn came, he suddenly scaled and jumped inside the railing and picked up the sword kept in front of the saroop (copy) of Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
The youth was immediately overpowered by sewadars on duty. He was taken out and beaten to death near Teja Singh Samundri Hall. The deceased aged between 20 and 25 is yet to be identified as police did not find any document or identification card on the dead man. But some reports have claimed that the deceased was a native of Uttar Pradesh.
The culprit was caught by SGPC task force and angry Sikhs got hold of the culprit. The man was killed near Teja Singh Samundri Hall. It should be noted that govt has been unable to deliver justice in 306 cases of sacrilege. pic.twitter.com/qgifmAgiTD https://t.co/ONiudJcURH
— Amaan (@amaanbali) December 18, 2021
In the last two months, this is the second incident of lynching for the alleged sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Nihang Sikhs brutally killed a Dalit youth Lakhbir Singh at the farmers’ protest site at the Kundli border for allegedly showing disrespect to the holy book.
Political parties have expressed concerns and condemned the incident of alleged sacrilege. But as can be seen, maintained silence over lynching.
