Hunger strike

Hunger strike by members of Youth Sewa Society entered sixth day on Friday. The main demands of the society members are that holiday should be declared on the martyrdom day of Kartar Singh Sarabha, Bhagat Singh and Rajguru and also Bharat Rattan award should be given to them. Bhupinder Singh, president of the society, said they would continue their strike till their demands were met.

CBI inquiry sought

Kul Hind Bairagi (Vaishnav) has sent a memorandum to the Home Minister and demanded that CBI inquiry should be marked in the case where idols from historical Raghunath Mandir were stolen. Krishan Kumar Bawa, president of the association, said this is the temple where historical Kullu Dasehra is celebrated every year and it is unfortunate that such an incident took place.

Death of newborns mourned

Members of the Universal Human Rights Organisation have expressed grief over the death of five newborn babies at the Civil Hospital. The members said this was the second time that Dr Alka Mittal had committed a mistake and she should not be spared for her negligence. In 2010 also, a woman in women prison cell lost her baby due to the negligence of doctors at the Civil Hospital.

MP raises church attack issue

MP Ravneet Singh Bittu on Friday raised the issue of the recent attack on Kalvari Church in Ludhiana in the Lok Sabha. He brought to the notice of the House that an 180-year-old historic church was attacked recently by armed anti-social elements and they, while trying to forcibly enter the holy place, severely injured a security guard deployed at the gate. Punjab never witnessed such kind of attacks on the places of worship of minorities even during the dark days of terrorism, he said. Pulling up the Akali-BJP government for its failure in maintaining the law and order situation in the state, Ravneet said the police force, instead of taking suitable action against the troublemakers, was content in witnessing the incident. Even today, the criminals were roaming freely in the streets of Ludhiana despite a case registered against them, he said.

Meeting held

Jathedar Avtar Singh Makkar, president of the Shiromani Committee, has said that legal action would be sought against the persons responsible for setting ablaze holy book Guru Granth Sahib in Jodhpur recently. A meeting of dignitaries was held at Model Town Extension here and the issue was discussed in detail. He said such acts were unfortunate and culprits must not be spared.

Agitation gets support

Members of the Hindu-Sikh Jagriti Sena led by its president Parveen Dang visited Bhupinder Singh Prince who had been on a hunger strike for the past six days. Prince, head of the Youth Sewa Society, is on a fast demanding that Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev be declared national martyrs. Dang and Prince urged the state government to prevail over the Union Government to enact a legislation to declare these martyrs as national heroes. Bhupinder Bagga, Prabhjeet Singh Anmol, Gurpal Singh Kaka, Pardeep Kohli, Simardeep Singh, Tajinder, Deepak, Satish and Amandeep accompanied Dang when he called on Prince to express solidarity with the latter.

Financial help sought

The Navchetna Bal Bhalai Committee, Punjab, an NGO, sought financial help from Samaritans for the treatment of Shivam, a student of Government Primary School, Bajda, who is suffering from meningitis. He is being treated at Oswal Cancer Hospital. His family cannot meet the expenses of the treatment.

Police-public meet held

A police-public meeting was conducted at the community hall on Pakhowal Road where residents of Thakkarwal, Lalton and surrounding villages discussed their problems with ACP Gill Gurpeet Singh Sikand and Sadar SHO Jatinderjit. The meeting was attended by more than 100 residents. Youth Club honoured police officials for curbing the menace of drugs in the area. Club members Sukhwinder Singh, Dilraj Singh, Balvir Singh, Jaswant Singh and Balwinder Singh offered support to the police in maintaining law and order in Pakhowal and surrounding areas. — TNS