Punjab sacrilege cases: Will ensure justice, says Channi at Golden Temple - Hindustan Times
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Punjab sacrilege cases: Will ensure justice, says Channi at Golden Temple

Sep 22, 2021 11:03 AM IST

Accompanied by Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and deputy chief ministers Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and OP Soni, chief minister pays obeisance at holiest shrine of Sikhs early on Wednesday

Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi paid obeisance at the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of the Sikhs, in Amritsar early on Wednesday and announced that he will ensure justice in the sacrilege cases of 2015.

Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi (left) and state Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu carrying the Palki Sahib at the Golden Temple in Amritsar early on Wednesday. (Sameer Sehgal/HT)
Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi (left) and state Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu carrying the Palki Sahib at the Golden Temple in Amritsar early on Wednesday. (Sameer Sehgal/HT)

Accompanied by Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, the chief minister arrived at 4am and shouldered the Palki Sahib (palanquin carrying Guru Granth Sahib) and attended the kirtan at the sanctum sanctorum in Darbar Sahib for an hour before speaking to the media briefly.

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“I assure you that there will be justice in the sacrilege cases,” Channi said, referring to the series of desecration incidents of ‘birs’ (copy) of Guru Granth Sahib after the incident at Bargari in Faridkot district in June 2015 and subsequent protests that left two followers dead in police firing at Behbal Kalan in October 2015 during the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP rule.

Six years after the incidents, the delay in action was one of the reasons for the rebellion within the Congress against former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh. Five months to go for the assembly elections, the Congress leadership, at the instance of Sidhu, had asked Capt Amarinder to fulfil the pre-poll promise of bringing the perpetrators of the sacrilege and police firing cases to justice.

Seconding Channi’s resolve, Sidhu said: “Sacha Sikh woh hota hai jo haq aur sach ki baat karta ho (A true Sikh is one who talks of rights and the truth).”

Punjab deputy chief ministers Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and OP Soni at the Golden Temple on Wednesday morning. (Sameer Sehgal/HT)
Punjab deputy chief ministers Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and OP Soni at the Golden Temple on Wednesday morning. (Sameer Sehgal/HT)

Deputy chief ministers Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and OP Soni were also present. They did the parikarma (circumambulation) of Darbar Sahib with Channi and Sidhu amid tight security as devotees watched from a distance.

After paying obeisance at Golden Temple, the chief minister and his deputies along with the state Congress chief went to Durgiana Temple and Ram Tirath Temple.

Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, his deputy OP Soni and state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu at Durgiana Temple in Amritsar on Wednesday morning. (Sameer Sehgal/HT)
Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, his deputy OP Soni and state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu at Durgiana Temple in Amritsar on Wednesday morning. (Sameer Sehgal/HT)

Later, they took a stopover at a local tea stall and interacted with local residents.

Punjab Congress chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and state party president Navjot Singh Sidhu, who is the Amritsar East MLA, at a tea stall in the holy city. (FB)
Punjab Congress chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and state party president Navjot Singh Sidhu, who is the Amritsar East MLA, at a tea stall in the holy city. (FB)

Channi, his two deputies and Sidhu reached Amritsar on Tuesday night from Delhi where they had gone to discuss the expansion of the new state cabinet with the party’s central leadership.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Surjit Singh is a correspondent. He covers politics and agriculture, besides religious affairs and Indo-Pak border in Amritsar and Tarn Taran.

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