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Onkar Singh in New Delhi
The outgoing president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak committee Kirpal Singh Badungar has flayed Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh for getting a non-bailable warrants issued against Bibi Jagir Kaur, former chief of the SGPC.
"Bibi Jagir Kaur is a former president of the SGPC. She is a former minister and a sitting member of the state assembly," Badungar said. "They [state government] are treating her like a proclaimed offender and issuing a non-bailable warrants against her and that too for an alleged theft of electricity."
In a telephonic conversation from Amritsar, Badungar told rediff.com that there was unprecedented police presence in the Golden Temple complex particularly in and around Guru Ram Das Sarai where the elections for the new SGPC -- the body that controls Sikh Gurdwaras -- are scheduled to be held around 1300 IST on Tuesday.
The police have thrown a security cordon around the golden temple complex, which is causing problems to pilgrims who want to visit the Golden Temple, he said, adding that if they decided to enter the complex, the consequences would be disastrous.
M S Bhullar, director general of Punjab police who is camping in Amritsar, told reporters that the police cordon is only meant to keep the troublemakers away from the complex during the polling. "We have no other function in the SGPC elections."
Meanwhile Manjit Singh Calkatta, a staunch supporter of former SGPC president Gurcharan Singh Tohra, has blamed Prakash Singh Badal, former chief minister and president of the Shiromani Akali Dal for the present state of affair in Amritsar.
"If the government is taking action against the Akali workers the blame will lie squarely on Prakash Singh Badal," he said.
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