Register criminal case against BJP spokesman R P Singh for hurting religious sentiments:  SAD

SGPC president asked RP Singh to refrain from making provicative statements

CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today demanded a criminal case be registered against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson R P Singh for hurting religious sentiments and spreading hatred in civil society by terming the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) as the Shiromani Christian Community.

In a statement here, senior party leader Dr Daljit Singh Cheema also asked BJP president J P Nadda to take strict disciplinary action against R P Singh besides tendering an apology to the Sikh community.

Dr Cheema said it was shocking that the BJP national spokesperson had given an inflammatory statement with the sole motive of defaming the SGPC which had come into existence after great sacrifices besides a prolonged agitation against the British government. “It is clear that such statements are being made by BJP leaders deliberately to defame the Shiromani Committee at a crucial juncture when elections are to be held to elect its President on October 28”.

Asserting that such statements gave a wrong message to religious minorities, Dr Cheema said “no one should be allowed to vitiate peace and communal harmony in Punjab. Strict action should be taken against the BJP leader as per law to send out a clear message that attacks on Sikh religious institutions will not be tolerated”.

Meanwhile, Taking a strong note of wrong statements made by RP Singh BJP leader against Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, the representative organization of Sikhs, Shiromani Committee President Advocate Harjinder Singh Dhami asked him to desist from such actions.

He said that R P Singh should know that the Shiromani Committee is an organization that came into existence after great sacrifices by the Sikhs to take away the Gurdwara administration from the hands of the British government and run it according to sectarian sentiments. In its 104-year history, this institution has made great achievements in education, health and sports along with the propagation of learning.

He said that the fact that RP Singh distorted the name of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and addressed it as ‘Shiromani Christian Committee’ shows his intellectual poverty and the dilution of sectarian understanding.

Advocate Dhami said that The wrong statement made by RP Singh has hurt the sentiments of the Sikh community. They should immediately apologize for this rash act and desist from such acts from now on.
He said that If RP Singh does not desist from such actions, the Shiromani Committee will be forced to legalize