Exemplary punishment for religious sacrilege: Amarinder
Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has vowed to ensure that anyone found guilty of involvement in the Bargari firing and other incidents related to religious sacrilege and desecration would face strong and exemplary punishment. In a statement issued here, the Chief Minister said his government was totally committed to ensuring the stringent of punishments for those involved in such incidents, which could destroy the state’s communal harmony and peace. “Not a single person will be spared. We will make sure that every one of them is brought to book, whether directly involved or guilty of protecting the culprits,” the Chief Minister said, adding that any attempt to create communal strife or tension in the state will be dealt with an iron hand. The Chief Minister has also urged the Centre to ask the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to expedite investigations into the three cases relating to sacrilege/desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib, which it had taken over in November 2015, said an official spokesperson. These incidents of sacrilege were part of a sinister design of Pakistani Intelligence agencies to destabilize the elected government in Punjab and disrupt peace and communal harmony in the border State. Captain Amarinder has requested the Central Government to advise the CBI to intensify their efforts to identify the perpetrators and trace these cases, including the Bargari sacrilege case, at the earliest. Lashing out at the erstwhile Badal government for recommending an extension in service to SSP Charanjit Singh Sharma, who had ordered firing in Bargari, the Chief Minister said that he had rejected the same and the officer had retired from the force. He said the officer too would have to face the consequences for his act. The fresh Commission of Inquiry, instituted by his government under the chairmanship of Justice (Retd.) Ranjit Singh to investigate all cases of sacrilege, is probing every incident of sacrilege, including Bargari, and the role of the controversial SSP, Charanjit Singh Sharma, said the Chief Minister, assuring of early and stringent action against all offenders. Captain Amarinder appealed to members of the public to approach the Commission at its office at the 4th Floor, Forest Complex Nagar, Sector-68, SAS Nagar (Ph. – 2298000) if they have any information that could help in resolving the sacrilege cases. The state government had instituted a fresh inquiry commission into the incidents of sacrilege after scrapping the report of the previous commission, based on legal opinion. The state advocate general, Atul Nanda, had advised the government that the Zora Commission report had not answered the very substance of its reference, i.e an inquiry into the incidents of sacrilege, in which eye-witness accounts and other investigations had suggested the involvement “of big people” and concluded that the police firing was “unwarranted and not in self-defence”. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister has also sought public cooperation for the Justice (Retd.) Mehtab Singh Commission of Inquiry, set up to review the false cases and FIRs registered under the decade-long Akali regime. The Commission could be approached at the 5th Floor, Forest Complex Nagar, Sector-68, SAS Nagar, a spokesperson in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) revealed. The Chief Minister has directed all government and police officials to extend all possible support and cooperation to the two Commissions to help them work expeditiously and judiciously, in the interest of justice and peace. — PTC News
