The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Monday demanded to include a provision of awarding of death sentence in cases of sacrilege or disrespect of religious texts. Harjinder Singh, SGPC chief, said such incidents hurt the religious sentiments of the public and therefore be dealt with an iron hand.
He also questioned the government's special investigation team (SIT) that it has constituted to probe into the alleged attempt of sacrilege at the Golden Temple on December 18. The SGPC said that the committee has decided to set up a six-member committee to investigate the case.
Singh said that in the matter of sacrilege attempt at the Golden Temple, 'whatever happened was a reaction in the defence'. The accused youth, it appeared, had taken commando training, he said.
He said that CCTV footage shows that the youth had first entered at 8.40 am. But the 'sevadar' stopped him. The accused then managed to enter through langar. He ate langar and drank tea. He entered Sachkhand around 10:30 am and did not bow his head. He circumambulated at Harki Pauri and went towards the Akal Takht at 11:45 am.
The SGPC chief said that when the accused youth came to Darshani Deodhi around 2:40 pm, he was denied entry. At 5, when the duty of the task force changed, he managed to reach Sachkhand.
"The manner in which the accused jumped the grills of the Gurudwara and entered the premises within 6 seconds, it seems like he had taken commando training," he said.
On the Kapurthala incident, where another sacrilege case was reported subsequently, he said that a thorough probe should be done. "A case has been filed. First, an investigation should take place and then action should be taken."
Earlier on Saturday, a man was killed for an alleged sacrilege bid at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. On Sunday, another unidentified person was beaten to death by a mob after being accused of 'disrespecting' the Sikh religious flag at a gurdwara in Nizampur village of Kapurthala.
According to police, villagers and members of Sikh organisations clashed with police personnel, who tried to save the man, leaving three cops, including a station house officer. Police said there was 'no visible sign' of sacrilege incident having taken place at the gurdwara, which is located on the Kapurthala-Subhnapur road, according to a PTI report.
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