Another desecration: Sikh holy book defiled in Hoshiarpur

In a fresh case of desecration, pages of Guru Granth Sahib were defiled with vermillion in a gurdwara in Bassi Daud Khan village- about 10 km from here. The incident had come to the notice of village panchayat on Tuesday but fearing public outrage, they kept it a secret and informed only a handful of Sikh leaders who shifted the ‘bir’ to Goindwal Sahib on Wednesday

In a fresh case of desecration, pages of Guru Granth Sahib were defiled with vermillion in a gurdwara in Bassi Daud Khan village- about 10 km from here. The incident had come to the notice of village panchayat on Tuesday but fearing public outrage, they kept it a secret and informed only a handful of Sikh leaders who shifted the ‘bir’ to Goindwal Sahib on Wednesday.

Enquiries revealed that the incident had taken place in after the ‘parkash’ (morning prayers). The miscreant/ miscreants tampered with at least 20-25 pages.

Sarpanch Gurdip Kaur’s husband Piara Ram said the gurdwara had no permanent ‘granthi’ and villagers performed the routine religious service themselves. “No one saw the movement of any outsider in the area. The woman, who had done the ‘parkash’, said she had left soon after the service,” he said. He revealed that five more ‘birs’ were lying in the gurdwara but all were ‘safe’. Asked why so many ‘birs’ were kept when there was not even a single sewadar to look after them, he said it was “a matter of people’s faith”.