CHANDIGARH: The police dispersed a group of persons who wanted to demonstrate against the dissidents led by Parkash Singh Badal. As soon as the group carrying black flags appeared before the Golden Temple Complex, Sikh men and women started snatching their flags. A group of young girls snatched the black flags from about a dozen persons. Police laid cordon between those who had the flags and those who wanted to snatch the flags. Several youths attacked the black flag holders from behind and started snatching flag. The police fired tear-gas shells to disperse them, In the melee a shot from a sternum, held by a head constable went off accidently but did not injure anyone, The black-flag demonstrators had to go away before the legislators led by Parkash Singh Badal reached the Golden Temple Complex, A group of A.I.S.S.F, men and women belonging to Harinder Singh Kahlon group raised slogans against Barnala Government, Punjab Government, Punjab police, and slogans of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Zindabad and Khalistan Zindabad.
There was tension in the Temple Complex when men and women tried to break open a room in the Parkarma in which policemen in plain-clothes were sitting. Policemen bolted the room from inside, these rooms were repeatedly attacked. The doors of room 26, 27, and 29 were broken opened with sharp edged weapons. At one stage it was feared that these people might kill the policemen. Some senior Sikh intelligence officers sought the support of the Temple authorities and supporters of Mr. Barnala; they had a tough time in saving the police personnel, however, some of them were manhandled by the angry men and women. In order to stop people from going into the Golden Temple, police van started announcing that curfew had been clamped in the vicinity of the Golden Temple. Though actually no curfew was imposed in that area.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 16, 1986
