MANAGEMENT
NEW DELHI, March 8, an off duty colleague alleged to India, Reuter: The killing have been imprisoned and torture of a policeman at the Holiest Shrine of the Sikh religion is being exploited by the Barnala supporters to criticize the Sikh High Priests and the Golden Temple management.
“Has the Sikh religion stooped so low”, asked Punjab Finance Minister Balwant Singh, addressing an all-party rally in the town of Ludhiana.
The rally, called in support of Punjab Chief Minister Surjit Singh Barnala, who was recently excommunicated by the five Head Priests of Punjab Sikhdom, spent much of its time denouncing yesterday’s incident at the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
Militant Sikhs there shot dead one policeman and wounded four others as the officers tried to rescued by the militants. Officials in Punjab told Reuters
Today that 35 militants had since been detained, three of them described by police as hardcore freedom fighters.
Harrder Singh, acting President of the Temple’s management committee, angrily denounced the police action, saying they should first have sought the cooperation of the temple authorities.
But communist leader Harkrishnan Singh Surjeet asked the rally why the Head! Priests. and especially their leader, Jathedar Darshan Singh, had remained silent over the killing.
“You (Darshan Singh) have no courage to dissociate yourself from the extremist and separatist elements”, he said.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 13, 1987
