On December 19, Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu demanded Taliban-style public execution of the sacrilege accused. He was addressing a rally at Malerkotla. In his speech Sidhu said that the cases of sacrilege, irrespective of religion, hurt the sentiments of the people. He demanded that the accused in such cases should be hanged in public.
Sidhu said that there is a conspiracy being brewed against one community. He further claimed that the fundamentalist forces were trying to cause disturbance in Punjab. It is noteworthy that Sidhu has made such demand at a time when all leaders, irrespective of the party lines, have shied away from condemning the lynching of the man accused of sacrilege at Golden Temple as well as in Kapurthala Gurudwara.
Punjab is built on strong foundation of Oneness & universal brotherhood laid down by Guru Sahib.. No divisive forces can destroy strong social fabric of Punjabi Community. Deliberate & malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings should be dealt with deterrent punishment pic.twitter.com/x8TPRLfCEO
— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) December 19, 2021
Sidhu published the part of his speech in which demanded public execution of the accused. In the tweet, he wrote, “Punjab is built on strong foundation of Oneness & universal brotherhood laid down by Guru Sahib. No divisive forces can destroy the strong social fabric of the Punjabi Community. Deliberate & malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings should be dealt with deterrent punishment.”
He said, “I, Navjot Singh Sidhu, son of Bhagwant Singh Sidhu, is announcing today, if an incident of sacrilege takes place, no matter if it is of Quran, Bhagwad Gita, or Guru Granth Sahib, bring the accused in front of the public and hang the person to death. He should be given the hardest punishment mentioned in the constitution.”
He further added, “Such acts hurt our sentiments. Anyone can make mistakes. But this is not a mistake. It is an attempt against one religion. It is an attempt to finish a religion. It is a conspiracy to rot our roots.”
The sacrilege incident of Golden Temple
On December 19, an unidentified youth was lynched to death after he allegedly attempted sacrilege of Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji at Shri Harmandir Sahib, Amritsar. He was apprehended by the SGPC task force and devotees. Later, his dead body was laid down outside the Gurudwara premises before the Police could reach the spot. The deceased, who was beaten to death over the alleged sacrilege, was not carrying any identification documents with him. The Punjab government has formed SIT to investigate the case.
Another case was reported in the Kapurthala district where a man was lynched over allegations of sacrilege of Nishan Sahib. Later the Police revealed that there was no evidence of sacrilege and the deceased possibly came to steal something from the Gurudwara premises. Some reports had suggested that the Granthi had contacts with operatives of Pakistan’s ISI. Investigation into the case is underway.
Sacrilege cases have been used as a hot political topic during the last elections, and it seems the current situation would make it easier for the political parties will use the increasing cases of alleged sacrilege to gain political mileage in upcoming Punjab Assembly polls as well. The Assembly elections in Punjab are scheduled for early 2022.
