CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana bandh called by radical organisations to protest the killing of a Sikh youth, allegedly by Dera Sacha Sauda followers, turned violent on Wednesday with 17 people suffering injuries in a Dera-Sikh-police clash in Haryana’s Fatehabad.
The near-total bandh saw violent demonstrations by Sikhs seeking the arrest of Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh at over a dozen places and crippled normal life in the two states.
The protestors smashed window panes of buses in Mohali, damaged a cinema hall in Amritsar and forced closure of shops in Jalandhar. Most commercial establishments remained closed in Punjab and a few Haryana cities, while pubic transport was off roads.
The bandh was called by radical Sikh outfits led by the Damdami Taksal after Mahinder Singh was stabbed to death with a sword by Dera followers in Dabwali last week.
Tension has since been building between the two groups, with at least seven violent clashes taking place between them in the last five days.
Dera followers have threatened to retaliate if the government failed to protect their right to pray and hold meetings. At a massive congregation at headquarters Sirsa in Haryana on Tuesday, they resolved to be firm and build pressure on the government to check the Sikh violence against them.
Sikh demonstrators squatted on railway tracks near Vala village in Amritsar district on Wednesday, following which railway authorities stopped the Amritsar-Delhi Shatabdi, Jan Shatabdi, Sachkhand and the Amritsar-Delhi Super express trains.
Traffic on national highways and other roads was disrupted at Fatehgarh, Phagwara, Moga and many other places. A large number of private educational institutes remained closed in Punjab as a precaution.
In Haryana’s Fatehabad, Sikhs and Dera supporters clashed after the former tried to forcibly close shops, leaving three persons injured in stone pelting.
A Sant Samaj spokesman said the bandh aimed to pressure the Haryana and Punjab governments to arrest the Dera chief for his alleged involvement in the killing of three Sikhs, including in Mumbai and Dabwali.
Apex Sikh religious body the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee supported the bandh and declared holiday in all its religious, administrative and educational institutions.
b_ajay@dnaindia.net
