Liquor shops open in Sirhind

Former deputy speaker Bir Devinder Singh on Thursday said that it was appalling that liquor shops remained open in half of Sirhind town while devotees thronged Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib from all parts of the north India, to pay their homage to the young martyrs of the Sikh faith.

While releasing a picture of a liquor shop which remained open for the sale of country- made and foreign liquor all the day , Bir, former Sirhind MLA, has alleged that the district administration had failed to understand the sentiments of the Sikh community.

The restriction order issued by the district administration for the closure of the liquor shops covers only the negligible radius of just 3 km from the historic Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib, and does not cover the entire municipal town of Sirhind.

There should have been a complete ban on the sale of liquor and tobacco in the entire district of Fatehgarh Sahib at least for three days of the Shaheedi Jor Mela.

Unfortunately the representative body of the Sikhs, the SGPC which is expected to take up such sentiments of the Sikhs, seem to be in deep slumbers or have become a mute spectator to the issues.

First Published: Dec 26, 2013 21:46 IST