In damage-control mode, state govt suspends Moga SSP

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 16

Heads must roll and responsibility fixed for the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib. Peace and tranquility in the border state of Punjab cannot be compromised. This was the message conveyed by the members of the Akali Dal’s Core Committee that held an emergency meeting here this evening.

The suspension of Moga SSP Charanjit Sharma with immediate effect for lapses in the line of duty was ordered under pressure from the committee members. Sharma was the SSP of Faridkot when the Guru Granth Sahib was stolen. Though the government said the suspension had been ordered following a recommendation of SIT formed to probe sacrilege of the holy book in Faridkot, sources say DGP Sumedh Singh Saini was summoned at the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s residence while the core committee meeting was on, and the decision to suspend the officer was taken thereon.

The members of the committee reportedly asked the DGP why the incident of theft of Guru Granth Sahib was not taken up seriously at the highest level on time. The DGP is learnt to have stated there that the SSP did not report the matter to him. The members then demanded that he be punished, following which a decision to suspend him was taken.

Nine of the 18 committee members were present. The meeting was summoned to deliberate on the decision taken by the Sikh high priests withdrawing the edict issued by them earlier regarding the grant of pardon to Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and the backlash by Sikh radicals on the issue.

Sources said the members also spoke about the civil and police bureaucracy in Punjab getting out of control and the need to rein them in. To quell the disquiet, SAD president and Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal and SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar suggested that the SGPC members and Akali workers should initiate “akhand paths” in gurdwaras across the state.

Earlier in the evening, a delegation of top BJP leaders, including state president Kamal Sharma, former presidents Ashwani Sharma and Rajinder Bhandari and ministers Madan Mohan Mittal, Surjit Jiyani and Chunni Lal Bhagat, met Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and extended support “for any action the government felt necessary to trace those involved in the sacrilege incident”. It is learnt that the BJP delegation stressed that the government should act effectively to ensure that no one challenges the state’s hard-earned peace.

BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh, in a statement issued later, too, demanded action against those involved in the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib.