After CM’s report handover, sacrilege back at centre stage

Jalandhar: After chief minister (CM) Bhagwant Mann handed over investigation report of Bargari sacrilege case to a few Sikh representatives on Saturday, the issue has once again got into the centre stage.
Several were surprised at the sudden development and asked why the AAP government in Punjab handover the report to that particular set of representatives of a few Sikh groups whereas a ‘morcha’ was being held at Behbal Kalan since December 16, 2021 by police firing victim Krishan Bhagwan’s son Sukhraj Singh.
Amrik Singh Ajnala, who heads a faction of Damdami Taksal, and some other Sikh groups that were handed over the report, had given a call to stage a continuous dharna outside the chief minister’s residence on Bargari sacrilege and other issues. Sukhraj has already taken exception to this handing over of report saying it was given to those who had been opposing the morcha being held by him and other activists at Behbal Kalan.
The issue of Bargari sacrilege and subsequently police firing in Behbal Kalan in 2015, in which two Sikh protesters were killed, had brought major crisis for the Badals-led Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and it was one of the key issues in the 2017 assembly elections and worked to the Congress’s advantage.
In 2021, the same issue led to major crisis within the Congress after the Punjab and Haryana high court scrapped investigation by then IG Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh in Kotkapura police firing case.
The political turmoil thus triggered contributed to removal of Captain Amarinder Singh from the Punjab CM’s post by the Congress.
AAP at that time used the issue to its advantage by inducting Kunwar Vijay Partap in the party and then put up his hoardings across the state. However, later the party lowered its pitch on the issue and made its “guarantees” main poll plank amid strong sentiment of change in the state. Neither sacrilege nor farmers’ issues were at the centre stage when electioneering was at its peak even as Punjab was epicentre of farm movement and had also added momentum to the sentiment of change.
After the report has been handed over SAD leaders have been claiming that they stood vindicated while accusing the Congress and AAP along with other others unleashing false propaganda against them. At the same time the Congress has also questioned AAP government.
When Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring has said it was an attempt to hush up sacrilege case, CLP leader Partap Singh Bajwa has said earlier AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal called Badals mastermind but now the report did not mention them at all.