Singhu lynching a result of failure of rule of law, says Akal Takht jathedar

A thorough probe be done into the lynching incident at Singhu so that right side of Sikh community could be presented to the world, says Akal Takht jathedar

Akal Takht acting jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh on Sunday termed the lynching at the Singhu border a result of the failure of rule of law and demanded a thorough investigation into the incident “so that the right side of the Sikh community could be presented to the world”.

The Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs, in the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar.

In a press release, he asked the government and the police not to take it as a matter of law and order in view of the religious sensitivity and emotional seriousness of the matter. He also exhorted the media to refrain from tarnishing the image of Sikhs by showing incomplete aspects of the incident.

“There have been more than 400 incidents of desecration of Guru Granth Sahib in Punjab in the last 5-6 years. Not a single culprit was given an exemplary punishment as to heal the wounds of the Sikhs. For the Sikhs, nothing is above Guru Granth Sahib. As the investigation agencies have been unable to expose the conspiracy by calling the culprits mentally ill, it has hurt the Sikhs’ trust in the law,” he said.

Citing the preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights drafted by the United Nations, the jathedar said that “any person goes on a violent path only if the rule of law fails to protect his human rights”.

“The failure to bring justice to the Sikhs in incidents of disrespect to Guru Granth Sahib paved the way for the Singhu incident,” he claimed.

An independent agency, he added, should probe all aspects of the incident so that the truth is revealed. Clumsy attempts were being made to provoke the sentiments of the Sikhs by desecrated their holy book, he said.

“These incidents can be a trick to fuel communal and inter-caste tension in Punjab. The Haryana and Punjab police should investigate the incident impartially but should not harass any innocent Sikh,” he said.