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 assailant’s state police said. The gunmen stole his pistol and fled on foot.

The resignation of Gurcharan Singh Tohra was accepted by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak 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 to Tohra’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.

Article extracted from this publication >> March 8, 1991