Sikh protesters block Road, Rail traffic

Chandigarh, May 19 (UNI) Sikh protestors today blocked road and rail traffic, organised bandhs and burnt the effigies of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in Punjab today even as the State Government withdrew security provided to him.

However, there was no report of any casuality during the protests on the sixth day today over the Dera chief's alleged attempt to pose as Guru Gobind Singh and hurting sikh sentiments.

The bandhs and protests in Jalandhar, Moga and many other places passed off peacefully and the situation was well under control, Director General of Police N P S Aulakh said.

The normal life and rail and road traffic was affected at many places in the state due to the ongoing strife between the Sikh protesters and Dera sacha Sauda followers though there were no reports of any serious clash between the two groups.

Hundreds of activists of several Sikh organisations, demanding arrest of Dera Sacha Sauda Head blocked the rail and road traffic on the National Highway (NH) in Subhanpur area of Kapurthala district and main railway line on Jalandhar-Amritsar section.

The rail blockade affected the movement of more than ten trains on alandhar-Amritsar section. The agitators detained Amritsar-New Delhi super train for more than two hours at Subhanpur railway crossing .

The protesters, carrying swords and lethal weapons, also resorted to road blockades in Jalandhar, Baghapurana, Dharamkot, Moga, Barnala, Kapurthala, Rampura Phul, Hoshiarpur and Patiala.

They submitted memoranda to authorities demanding immediate arrest of Dera Sacha Sauda chief and CBI probe of his anti-sikh activities. Heavy police force was deployed in these areas to check any untoward incident.

A total bandh was today observed in Jalandhar city. All shops, except a few medical stores, other business establishements and educational institutions remained closed in the city during the bandh.

The hundreds of Sikh activists in different groups brandishing swords and other traditional weapons on two-wheelers and four-wheelers patrolled the streets. The Sikh activists later burnt the effigies of Dera Sacha Sauda chief at different places in Jalandhar.

Even as protests continued against the Dera chief, his supporters allegedly tried to set a Gurudwara on fire and pelted stones at the granthi's house inside the complex at Nathpura village in Bathinda district last night where out of the 400 families aout 100 were followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda.

However, the fire was doused without causing much damage as the granthi Gurmel Singh immediately sent an SOS through Gurudwara public announcement system and a large number of villagers, many equipped with arms, rushed in and extinguished the flames outside the shrine.

Meanwhile, the Punjab Government has withdrawn the four Punjab Police PSOs provided to Dera Sacha Sauda Chief during the Congress regime, saying that he had been already provided the security by the Haryana Government.

A meeting of Sikh intellectuals at Akal Takhat today took a serious view of the ''sensational reporting by electronic media of the Sacha Sauda episode'' and resolved to form an intellectual panel to project the Sikh views.

The meeting, presided over by takht Patna Sahib Jathedar Giani Iqbal Singh in the absence of Akal Takht jathedar Joginder Singh Vedanti, also decided to send notices to ''those media houses which had projected one-sided views.'' Meanwhile, in a statement issued at Sirsa, the Dera Chief appealed to the President of India to intervene and bring both the sides together for a dialogue to put an end to the violent incidents in Punjab. He also appealed that a law must be framed regarding donning of robes in order to remove any misunderstanding in future.

UNI