LAHORE, May 24: Pakistani Sikhs marched from Gurdwara Dera Sahib to the Lahore Press Club on Thursday to press the Indian government to award exemplary punishment to the leader of a religious sect for impersonating one of the figures most revered by them.
Around a dozen children in blue kurta-pyjama with a black strip on their orange turban were among the 300 or so protesters who had come from Quetta, Khyber Agency, Peshawar and interior Sindh.
Seven-year-old Sundip Singh and his neighbour Sakundar Singh, 11, were also carrying banners and placards while chanting slogans against Gurmeet, the leader of the Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS) religious sect, for insulting their religion.
After marching around the Simla Pahari, the protesters held a demonstration, urging the Indian government to either hand over Gurmeet to Sikhs supreme body Akal Takht or award him exemplary punishment after closing down the places like the DSS in Sirsa town of Haryana state.
Led by sword-bearing ‘Punj Piyaray’, the protesters completely blocked the road in front of the press club before burning an effigy of Gurmeet.
Some young protesters continued thrashing the effigy while chanting slogans.
“Gurmeet has committed blasphemy by appearing in an advertisement in the attire like that of the 10th and the last Guru of the Sikh faith,” Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) president Sardar Bishan Singh later said at a news conference inside the press club.
The supreme body of the Sikh religion has given May 27 deadline to Gurmeet to tender an unconditional apology, close down his so-called religious centres and go away from the (Indian) Punjab forever. “It is better for Gurmeet to accept the decision of the Akal Takht, otherwise a bloodshed cannot be ruled out,” warned Bishan.
PSGPC members Sardar Sham Singh, a recipient of Nishan-i-Imtiaz, said Sikhs were also being labelled as terrorists like Muslims all over the world. “Both the Sikhs and the Muslims do not hesitate to sacrifice their lives for the sake of their faith. The day the Muslims abandon jihad they would be eliminated. Some unscrupulous elements want to first divide and then eliminate Sikhs because they are afraid of them.”
Former president of PSGPC Mastan Singh said a conspiracy had been hatched to divide the (Indian) Punjab to reduce the strength of Sikhs. “But we’ll foil the conspiracy hatched by the Brahmin.”
PSGPC members Dr Sahib Singh, Sardar Roil Singh and Sardar Darshan Singh were also present at the news conference.