Surjit Singh Rakhra says if ‘swaroop’ not recovered by August 18, protest to be intensified
Patiala, August 10, 2020: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today asked chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh to give explicit directions to the Patiala police to nab those responsible for the theft of the ‘swaroop’ of Sri Guru Granth ji from Ardaspura village in this district while stating that the unique ‘swaroop’ should not be allowed to be lost to the Sikh community.
Talking to newsmen after holding protest in front of the SSP office here, Mr Surjit Rakhra said the ‘swaroop’ were of World War vintage and there were only two such ‘swaroop’ which were so small in size that they needed to be read with a special lens.
The SAD leader said the government did not prioritize the search for the ‘swaroop’ for nearly two weeks and it was only after SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal started a dharna on this issue that the Patiala police had started investigating the case. “We want the investigation speeded up so that those guilty for this heinous crime can be brought to justice at the earliest”. He said in case the Patiala Police failed to solve the case till August 18 the SAD would be constrained to announce its next line of action in the case and intensify the stir.
Mr Rakhra said the theft of the ‘swaroop’ was another attempt by anti-Sikh forces to weaken the panth as well as its representative bodies including the SGPC and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). He said some ‘jathebandis’ were also playing into the hands of the Congress party. He said the same organizations were used by the Congress to divide the Sikh community following sacrilege cases and that they were again playing into the hands of the Congress by remaining silent about the theft of the ‘swaroop’ from Kalyan village.
Others present on the occasion included Former Chairman Punjab Surjit Singh Ablowal, SGPC Member Kuldeep Singh Nassupur, SGPC Member Baltej Singh Khokh, Former Chairman Jaspal Singh Kalyan, Chief Spokesperson of Youth Akali Dal Amit Rathi.