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.
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