NEW DELHI, India: Violence continued in Punjab as a policeman was shot and seriously wounded by gunmen.
Zile Singh, an assistant sub inspector, was shopping with his Wife in the state’s Patiala District When he was shot by two assailants, state police said. The gunmen stole his pistol and fled on foot.
The resignation of Gurcharan Singh Tohra was accepted by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parban dhak Committee, which manages the affairs of Sikh temples in Punjab. ‘The meeting was held in the state capital, Chandigarh.
Kabul Singh, senior vice president of the committee, was named acting chief,
Tohra, who had served as committee president for 13 years, originally submitted his resignation Feb. 16 at a rally of the Akali Dal in the nearby town of Anandpur Sahib.
‘The rally was called to challenge the Sikhs who took control of the Golden Temple of Amritsar, the Sikh’s holiest shrine, on Jan. 26 and “dissolved” the temple committee.
‘These Sikhs, many of whom advocate creation of a separate Sikh nation, oppose the moderate Sikh government that came to power in state elections Sept. 25.
‘They have demanded the ouster of Tohra, claiming he cooperated with the federal government during the bloody 1984 army assault ‘on the Golden Temple.
There was no immediate reaction from the Sikh radicals to ‘Thora’s resignation.
‘These Sikhs also demand unconditional release of all Sikhs jailed on subversion charges and reinstatement of all Sikh soldiers ‘who mutinied following the Army raid,
In New Delhi Sunday, a Sikh lawmaker demanded an apology from House Speaker Balram Jakhar for his recent statement describing Punjab as a “slaughterhouse.”
More than a hundred people, mostly Hindus and moderate Sikhs, have been killed in attacks in Punjab since the state elections.
Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, leader of the Akali Dal Party’s Parliamentary delegation, said Jakhar’s comment was “insulting, malicious and false.”
He claimed the law and order situation in Punjab was better than in most states governed by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s Congress Party,
Opposition leaders of Hindu dominated Haryana state announced Sunday they would launch a civil disobedience movement on March 23 to protest Gandhi’s peace accord with Sikh moderates,
Devi lal, former Chief Minister of Haryana, said his followers would stop paying taxes as part of the campaign against the territorial concessions to Punjab under the July accord, Punjab Chief Minister Sunjit Singh Barnala, meanwhile, appointed the first Hindu to his 5monthold ministry. Kasturi Lal was one of five new deputy minister’s sworn in by Governor Shankar Dayal Sharma.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 7, 1986
