NEWS
Protest Ends in Violence at SGPC
February 22, 2003
News contribution by Jesse Goldbaum (NY)
Amritsar
-- Swords were drawn as members of the Shiromani Khalsa Panchayat (SKP)
clashed with members of the SGPC and the All India Sikh Student Federation
(AISSF) during an attempted protest outside the SGPC complex.
About
500 SKP members were asking for the removal of the Akal Takht Jathedaar
Joginder Singh and Kesh Garh Sahib Jathedaar Manjit Singh alleging corruption
in their handling of the case of a young girl raped by Baba Dhanwant Singh
in November 2000. The SKP also alleged a cover-up by Joginder Singh's
personal secretary Prithipal Singh who they say had accepted a bribe from
Baba Dhanwant Singh in exchange for lighter punishment.
By
not providing an effective remedy, the SKP charged the Jathedaars with
contempt and disregard for the human rights of the young girl. Unable
to find justice from the Sikh clergy, the young girl eventually went to
the authorities who convicted Baba Dhanwant Singh on the rape charge and
is now serving a jail sentence.
The SKP was also protesting other grievances:
the participation of the former Chief Minister Prakash Singh in rituals
and practices such as "havaans" which are against Sikh tenets;
the ineffective counsel and appeal of 1984 Sikh widows and victims; the
systematic distortion and misrepresentation of Sikh practices and history
by the BJP and the RSS; and the allegedly unaccounted funds collected
by Jathedaar Joginder Singh in foreign countries for the 1984 Dharmi Sikh
Soldiers who left the Indian army in protest of the attack on the Akal
Takht and other Gurdwaras.
The
protestors, led by Rajinder Singh, Charanjit Singh, Mangal Singh, Bhupinder
Singh and Apandeep Singh performed an ardas at the Akaal Takth before
moving on to the SGPC complex for a sit-in protest. They were chanting
"Satnaam Vaheguru" as they approached the Teja Singh Samundri
Hall when they were met by about 300 members of the SGPC Task Force and
the AISSF.
The protestors were reported to be chanting
"Satnaam Vaheguru" as they were being pushed out of the SGPC
gate by the Task Force and the AISSF. A physical altercation between the
groups broke out. The fisticuffs became more violent with the use of lathis,
iron rods and swords. Even women were involved in the altercation.
The
police did not step in to stop the brawl until the crowd was pushed outside
the SGPC premises. A police spokesman said that eleven people were arrested
for rioting. Four activists of AISSF and three members of SGPC Task Force
were injured in the clash. Nineteen people were hurt all together.