E-Paper
50 Sikh leaders to join morcha’s August 15 march to Chandigarh
Chandigarh Police officials had told the morcha organisers that they won’t be allowed entry in the city and asked the organisers to shift their protest to another site
A total of 50 Sikh leaders will lead a peaceful protest march towards Chandigarh on August 15, representatives of Qaumi Insaaf Morcha said on Friday.
Addressing a press conference at the morcha’s protest site near YPS Chowk, Mohali, advocate Dilsher Singh said, “We had asked the Chandigarh administration to provide a route for the march, but so far we have received nothing.”
He was accompanied by advocate Amar Singh Chahal; Gurcharan Singh, foster father of terrorist Jagtar Singh Hawara; Pal Singh France and Jaswinder Singh Rajpura.
During a meeting on Wednesday, Chandigarh Police officials had told the morcha organisers that they won’t be allowed entry in the city. They had also asked the organisers to shift their protest to another site.
‘No question of shifting protest site’
During the press conference on Friday, the morcha leaders maintained that they will not shift the protest site till some of their demands are met.
“During the meeting with Punjab and Chandigarh police officials on Wednesday, we had made it clear that if the government tries to evict us forcibly, it will be solely responsible for the fallout. We will end the protest and lift the morcha the same day once the government accedes to our demands, which are completely genuine,” said Gurcharan Singh.
On August 2, the Punjab and Haryana high court had issued a strict warning to the Punjab and Chandigarh police to remove protesters from YPS Chowk.
Deferring the hearing for August 17, the high court had stated that it will not hesitate in issuing directions to remove the protesters by use of force.
Since January 7, Sikh activists under the banner of Qaumi Insaaf Morcha have been protesting at YPS Chowk, seeking release of Sikh prisoners lodged in different jails despite completion of their jail sentence, bringing vehicle movement on the major Chandigarh-Mohali route to a complete halt.
On February 8, protesters had clashed with police forces at the Sector 52/53 dividing road after being stopped from marching towards Chandigarh, leaving at least 33 cops injured.
