Bargari Bomb without expiry date continues to tick for political establishment in Punjab

 

Bargari Bomb  without expiry date continues to tick for political establishment in Punjab

Ground Zero

Jagtar Singh

Aam Aadmi Party MLA from one of the Assembly segments in the holy city of Amritsar Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh has done it again.

Now he has resigned from the chair of  the Committee on Assurances of the Punjab Assembly and the issue is Bargari, the name associated with the Guru Granth Sahib sacrilege narrative.

Bargari is a big village located on the Bathinda-Kotkapura-Amritsar highway in Faridkot district that hit the headlines in October 2015 when the pages of Guru Granth Sahib were found scattered in its streets in the morning. This narrative was part of the chain that had already been triggered in early May of 2007 within days of the Akali Dal-BJP alliance forming the government headed by Parkash Singh Badal in his fourth term.

Former inspector general of police in Punjab, Kunwar Vijay Partap had resigned from the IPS before the February 2022 Assembly election in the state on the issue of Bargari sacrilege, blaming the Congress government for not taking these sensitive cases to the logical conclusion. He joined the Aam Aadmi Party  that had promised speedy justice. Apparently, the party then was not aware of multiple dimensions of this case that involve some now retired senior police officers perceived to be untouchables.

The Committee on Assurances had summoned the state government officers from the home and police departments on January 20 to seek updates on the assurances given earlier by the government in these cases. However, meetings of all the committees of the Assembly scheduled that day were cancelled by the Speaker. It is learnt that Kunwar had personally telephoned some members to attend the meeting.

It is pertinent to mention here that the assurance for speedy justice in these cases had come before the election from none other than AAP convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal before the election.

One of the accused in the case is Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim who is being repeatedly granted parole by the Haryana government. He is lodged in Rohtak jail but is out again on parole. The Punjab police has failed to bring him to the state on production warrant for custodial interrogation. The BJP leaders in Haryana are attending online programmes of the Dera chief.

Kunwar Vijay Partap was one of the investigating officers as part of a 5-member team that had been set up by Amarinder government but the other four members remained non-functional.

The two senior police officers who are named as accused in the associated cases are former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini and former IGP Paramraj Singh Umranangal, besides several others. These are the cases relating to police firing on devotees at Kotkapura and Behbal who were protesting against the sacrilege.

Briefly, the first case against Gurmeet was registered in 2007 relating to blasphemy as he had appeared in public copying Guru Gobind Singh in dress. This case was withdrawn five days before the election in February 2012. The Sikh clergy had issued edict against him in 2007. He was exonerated by the clergy in September 2015 leading to strong reaction in the Sikh domain. This exoneration was subsequently withdrawn. A copy of Guru Granth Sahib had already been stolen by that time from a gurdwara in Burj village near Bargari on June 1. The torn pages of this Bir were found scattered on the streets of Bargari on October 12 and the police fired on protesters on October 14 killing two devotees.

There is yet another case in which the Dera had figured. This is the bomb blast at Maur in Bathinda district in  2017 before the election in February killing several people, including children. Technically, this case is more serious. This case too is awaiting to be taken to conclusion.

The Akali leaders including party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal have strongly reacted to parole granted to Dera chief but link the same to the fate of the Sikh political prisoners whose cause is now dear to the party. Struggle is already on by Sikh organisations demanding their release.

However, the Akali Dal is not referring to the Bargari or Maur blast cases against him in which he should be brought to Punjab for custodial interrogation. The only leader from Akali domain to raise this issue is former SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur.

The resignation by Kunwar Vijay Partap virtually coincides with the parole granted to Dera chief.

The only party that has been silent on this issue is the Bharatiya Janata Party that of late has been going all out to capture the vacant space in political domain in Punjab by inducting Sikh leaders from the Congress and the Akali Dal. This narrative could frustrate this design of the BJP going by its earlier fall out.

No political party can afford to side-step this live bomb that has to be diffused.

Bargari Bomb is back in focus posing immediate challenge to the rulers in Punjab.