At a well-attended Jor Mela conference at Fatehgarh Sahib, held to pay glowing tributes to Mata Gujri and younger sons -Sahibzades of Tenth Master Guru Gobind Singh, the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) and Dal Khalsa raised substantive issues concerning the Sikhs and the political developments in India.

LEADERS OF SHIROMANI AKALI DAL (AMRITSAR) AND DAL KHALSA at their Shaheedi Jor Mela conference at Fatehgarh Sahib eulogized the supreme sacrifices of Sahibzada Fateh Singh and Sahibzada Zorawar Singh to uphold the truth, righteousness and principles of religion.

Significantly, the two Sahibzadas laid down their lives to uphold the right to follow the religion of their own choice, which led to their martyrdom.  Even after four centuries, the situation in India still shows the kind of religious intolerance which prevailed when the Guru’s illustrious 7-year-old and 9-year-old sons were bricked alive at Sirhind, the then capital of Hindustan.

“The spirit of martyrdom exemplified by great Sikh Gurus and Sahibzadas serves as a beacon light for Sikhs to stand up to tyranny and subjugation of successive governments over the last 550 years of Sikh history.”

Simranjit Singh Mann, President, Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar)

Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Mann said the spirit of martyrdom exemplified by great Sikh Gurus and Sahibzadas serves as a beacon light for Sikhs to stand up to tyranny and subjugation of successive governments over the last 550 years of Sikh history.  “We will not allow the Narendra Modi government to ride rough-shod of the minorities in India and will fight back in the same spirit as the sons of Guru Gobind Singh.”

Joining the countrywide demand of withdrawal of CAA and NRC, the speakers fired salvos against Narendra Modi government of India for enacting divisive and dangerous law. They said the present-day government of India was dragging the situation into another Emergency in the country. “In fact, it is already an undeclared emergency,” roared Dal Khalsa spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh.

The press release issued on the occasion said that the two parties, “stood rock behind the students of Jamia Milia, Aligarh Muslim University and other universities, who had taken to streets to protest against the fascist policies of the Modi-Shah Bhartiya Janata Party government. Simranjit Singh sang praises of the boys and girls who are bearing the brunt of state repression in Delhi and other parts of the country.

Taking the Union government of India to task for not releasing the Sikh prisoners, Mann said the Modi-Shah duo was playing a double game with Sikhs. He said that the State of Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh was misleading the people of Punjab by failing to prosecute Sukhbir-Saini-Sauda Sadh trio in the blasphemy and desecration cases of Barghari Kalan.

“The Tenth Guru sacrificed his sons for the sake of the Panth but today’s Sikh leaders were sacrificing Panthic interests for the sake of their sons.”

Kanwar Pal Singh, Spokesperson, Dal Khalsa

Dal Khalsa chief Harpal Singh Cheema also blamed the Indian government for deceiving the Sikhs. “On one hand, they issued notification for the release of eight Sikh prisoners and did not release any prisoner, while on the other, the authorities gave ample time to the likes of Manjinder Singh Bitta to approach the Supreme Court of India to obstruct the path of release.”

Dal Khalsa spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh said that the Tenth Guru sacrificed his sons for the sake of the Panth but today’s Sikh leaders were sacrificing Panthic interests for the sake of their sons.

Referring to Amit Shah calling names to the students of various universities protesting the divisive CAA and NRC, he said the language of Home Minister threatening the protesters was that of ‘goonda’. It doesn’t behove well for the office of the Home Minister of a country to talk in such demeaning language.

Kanwar Pal Singh also slammed the statement of Indian Army Chief Bipin Rawat in which he said students were being led to violence while protesting against the new law. He said the statement was clearly political in nature. “Allowing the Indian army chief to meddle in civil and political affairs, was in a bad taste,” he added.