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Haryana CM cancels visit to Sikh-dominated village amid protest threat
Development comes 4 days after CM cancelled visit to gurdwara in another village with portrait of Bhindranwale.
Sensing protest by members of the Sikh community, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday cancelled his visit to Dabri village of his Karnal constituency.
As per his programme, the chief minister was scheduled to address a ‘Nukkar Sabha’ at Sikh-dominated Dabri during his road show programme in six villages of Karnal district, but he reportedly cancelled the visit, following reports that the local Sikhs may protest against his visit.
The development comes four days after a controversy arose following cancellation of a scheduled visit by Khattar to a gurdwara in Dachar village when the shrine management refused to remove a portrait of Khalistan ideologue Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in the langar hall.
‘We too installed Bhindrawale’s poster in gurdwara: Villagers
Meanwhile, the Sikh residents of Dabri said they have also installed a poster of Bhindranwale in the village gurdwara.
“The CM himself cancelled the visit to our village. Otherwise he would have faced protests from agitated Sikh residents of the village,” said Sikh youths of the village.
Villagers said the chief minister was scheduled to visit the village at 1pm and a stage was also built for his programme.
The development has added to the anger of Sikhs in the area, who had already decided to boycott BJP leaders, including Khattar, until he tenders his apology at the gurdwara in Dachar village.
The protesting Sikhs also threatened to install Bhindrawale’s portrait in each and every gurdwara of the state.
However, Karnal deputy commissioner Aditya Dahiya said the district administration was not part of the programme, which was organised by the BJP.
BJP’s Karnal district president Jagmohan Anand said the programme was cancelled as there were reports that the members of the Sikh community may protest against the CM’s programme, but the issue is being “sorted out”.
Khattar, however, tried to pacify the members of the community, by saying, “Main Sikh samaj se alag nahin hun. Koi ghalatfehmi hogi to door kar li jayegi (I am not alien to Sikh society. If there is any misconception, we will sort it out.”
BJP Sikh MLA faces black flags
Meanwhile, BJP’s Assandh MLA Bakhshish Singh Virk, who is the only Sikh face of the ruling party in the state, had to face embarrassment as members of his community, carrying Bhindrawale’s posters, showed black flags to him when he came to pay obeisance at a gurdwara in Singhra village of the district on Tuesday morning.
The protesters came in front of Virk’s official vehicle when and chanted anti-BJP slogans. The police personnel had a tough time making passage for his vehicle.
