Hardliners to observe Jan 26 as 'Betrayal day'

Amritsar, Jan 21: Radical outfit Dal Khalsa and its ally Panch Pardani have decided to boycott organise a public rally here on January 25 to protest against alleged "injustice and intolerance" as they termed Republic Day a "betrayal day" for the Sikh community.

Dal Khalsa spokesman Kanwarpal Singh said a decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of senior leaders of the outfit held to undertake an assessment of the condition of Sikhs in the country.

The meeting observed that with the adoption of the Constitution, the Sikhs lost their distinct identity and have since then been struggling to get the constitutional wrongs "corrected", he said.

On the eve of Republic Day, Dal Khalsa workers will organise a protest demonstration at Circut House Chowk and march from there to the office of the Deputy Commissioner, added Singh.

The spokesman, however, clarified that there would be no disruption of traffic. Explaining why they were calling for a boycott of January 26 celebrations, he alleged the distinct identity of Sikhs was being subsumed under Article 25(b)(2) and Hindu personal laws were being imposed on Sikhs.

The aim is also to protest against "loot of Punjab river waters by subverting the Constitution", denial of justice to the Sikhs who fell to the bullets of security forces and police and unequal laws and rules for Sikh detainees, he said.

PTI