Uttarakhand, India: Sikh activists Gurcharan Singh Babbar and Ajmer Singh Randhawa has said that the police has covered-up every village of Sikhs around Haridwar and every Sikh house and no Sikh was permitted to step out and celebrate the Gurpurab day of Guru Nanak in Uttarakhand. They said that the police crackdown was directed by Harish Rawat led government in Uttarakhand.
In wake of call by All India Sikh Confederation (AISF) to celebrate the Parkash Gurpurb of Guru Nanak Ji at the site of Gurdwara Gyan Godari Sahib at Har Ki Pauri in Haridwar the police put Sikhs of adjoining areas under house arrest, said Gurcharan Singh Babbar.
The Gurpurab couldn’t be celebrated by Sikhs in that area, he added.
Ajmer Singh Randhawara said AISF head Gurcharan Singh Babbar and his team members, along with local Sikhs of the area, were taken at an isolated place 20 kms away from Haridwar soon after they were arrested by the Haridwar police.
“The Sikh detainees were not permitted to go to washrooms or to brush their teeth since morning, no food or water is served to them. This is another kind of state-terrorism applied by Uttrakhand govt. to suppress Sikhs to forget the Gurdwara at Har ki Pauri” he added.
It is notable that Gurdwara Gyan Godri was a historic Sikh shrine at Haridwara that marked the memory of Guru Nanak Sahib Ji’s visit to the place and signified the rejection of superstitious rituals by Guru Sahib. The Gurdwara Sahib was destroyed during November 1984 genocidal violence against the Sikhs.