Sacrilege cases: Goal post shifts from justice to stricter law | Chandigarh News
Jalandhar: The justice in the 2015-Bargari sacrilege and Behbal Kalan police firing cases remained one of the main issues during the 2017 and 2022 Assembly elections, and when the progress in those cases is tardy, the goal post has now been changed from justice in these cases to a new and much stringent anti-sacrilege law. Even as the Punjab govt has announced to hold a special session to amend an existing law, there appears no consensus within the community about a new law, a section demanding it, quite a few Sikh groups remaining silent or speaking in hushed tones and some others expressing reservations about a new law or fresh provisions in an old law.In the last around nine months, the goal posts about the ambit of the proposed law also changed. In July 2, 2025, Punjab govt tabled the Punjab Prevention of Offences Against Holy Scripture(s) Bill, 2025, then referred it to a select committee. Draft of this Bill included Guru Granth Sahib or its extracts, Bhagavad Gita, Quran and Bible. However, virtually dumping that draft, the chief minister announced to call a special session of the state Assembly on April 13 to amend the Jagat Jyot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Act, 2008, to ensure stricter punishment for sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib. The 2015-cases of sacrilege and police firing became the biggest reason for routing of the Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab in 2017 and 2022. Then in 2021, these cases became the reason for destabilisation of Captain Amarinder Singh govt, when the Punjab and Haryana high court scrapped the investigation by IG Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) in the Kotkapura police firing case. The AAP capitalised on the issue by inducting the former IG into the party, and it became the first big step in making a comeback after its dismal performance in 2019 Parliament elections, when its vote share could not touch even double digit.AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and the party promised to deliver justice in a very short span. However, four years later, the route to justice appears more convoluted and distant; most of the sacrilege and police firing-related cases were shifted from district Farikot courts to Chandigarh.Several Sikh quarters, including the victims, have been expressing frustration, anguish and even invoking the legal maxim ‘justice delayed is justice denied’. It was against this backdrop, and more cases of sacrilege in the last four years, Gurjeet Singh Khalsa climbed a tower in Samana on Oct 12, 2024, demanding a tough law to stop sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib. As it slowly swelled into a morcha, his supporters on the ground enlarged the scope of the demand to the religious texts of the other communities as well. Now it is back to the Sikh holy book only.The Sikh community was not originally seeking any special and more stringent anti-blasphemy or anti-sacrilege law, and they wanted the justice delivery system to work fairly under the prevailing law, as the Bargari morcha in 2018, which got a lot of traction on ground, highlighted this core issue of justice. The demand was for finding out the accused and bringing them to justice. The Bargari morcha got the results. Within a fortnight of its beginning in June 2018, accused were arrested and conspiracy was unravelled by the Punjab Police SIT, tracing the conspiracy and execution to Dera Sacha Sauda Sirsa.However, when justice in those cases is nowhere in sight now, the goal post was shifted to enacting a new law. The AAP leaders are emphasising only on the new law. Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee has accused the state govt of not providing any information about the new legal provision.While some quarters of the Sikh community are pushing for the tough anti-sacrilege law, there are voices of scepticism and criticism also. The SGPC has called a meeting of different Sikh groups on April 6. MSID: 130001430 413 |
