A protest march was held in a dozen villages here on Wednesday against the decision of Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat for Sikhs, to pardon Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh of blasphemy charges.
Around 200 protesters joined the march that went through a dozen villages and then assembled at Rode village.
Police was deployed in strength at Rode and nearby villages.
Co-opted member of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) Jagtar Singh, who led the protest march, said there is great resentment among Sikhs over the verdict of the Akal Takht, and termed the pardoning of the Dera chief as “incorrect”.
Jathedar of the Akal Takht Gyani Gurbachan Singh had last month announced pardoning Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who had been at loggerheads with the Sikh community for allegedly hurting their sentiments by dressing like tenth Sikh Master Guru Gobind Singh in 2007.