Dal Khalsa to recall sacrifices for Sikh cause on April 29

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 21

Taking a dig at the Centre’s approach, the Dal Khalsa termed two events of yesterday as a grim reminder of how the majority and minority communities were being treated by the state agencies.

On the one hand, former Gujarat minister Maya Kodnani and others were acquitted in the Naroda Gam massacre case in which 11 Muslims were killed and on the other, British citizen Kirandeep Kaur was harassed at the Amritsar airport and not allowed to board the flight for UK. “The developments are disturbing,” said Dal Khalsa leaders Kanwarpal Singh and Paramjit Singh Mand.

Invoking the NSA on Sikh youths, harassing women family members of Sikh activists and the heavy presence of Central security forces in Punjab was alarming, they said.

At a meeting, the Dal Khalsa decided to hold ardas at the Akal Takht on April 29. Notably, during the peak days of the militancy, on April 29, 1986, the Panthic Committee constituted by Sarbat Khalsa on January 26, 1986, had announced the formation of Khalistan from the Darbar Sahib precincts.

Elaborating their plans, they said the present government led by Narendra Modi was trying to paint Sikhs as ‘villains of peace’. “While observing the day, we would reiterate that the Sikhs are neither against peace nor any religion and that they love to take Hindus of Punjab along with them in their struggle for Punjab’s sovereignty,” they said.

“The April 29 event is mainly to counter the government’s negative propaganda against Sikhs besides paying homage to all those who sacrificed their lives and livelihood for the Sikh cause,” said Mand.

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