Jhinda skirts Hondh Chillar issue

AMBALA: The issue that has not only rocked Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, but has even been the main reason of debate and discussion for various Sikh bodies across the state – massacre of Sikhs in Hondh Chillar – seems to stand nowhere in the priority list of Jhinda group that is fighting for the control of gurdwaras in the state.
Intensifying their move, the members of Haryana’s ad hoc Sikh body headed by Jagdish Singh Jhinda and youth wing head Kanwaljit Singh Ajrana made a foiled attempt to perform ardas at Gurdwara Panjokhrha Sahib here on Wednesday afternoon.
Accompanied by hundreds of activists, Jinda and Ajrana were apprehended by local police to maintain law and order situation. They were arrested and later released.
Interacting with mediapersons, Jhinda alleged that he was being deprived of fundamental right of preaching in gurdwara. He appeared to be on defensive when questioned about his party’s stand on Hondh Chillar massacre during 1984 riots after the then prime minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination. “We have not given up on this issue. It still tops our priority list rather we were the first to go there. We plan to go there on Sunday as well. Rest we are disheartened by all moves of state government, who have failed to give the Sikhs their rights in Haryana,’’ Jhinda said.
Inquiries revealed that it was during noon hours when Jhinda and his men moved towards the gurdwara. The police intervened and asked him to stop the programme due presence of members of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on gurdwara’s premises.
This was done in the presence of executive magistrate to avoid any kind of clash between the two warring groups representing Sikh bodies.
This move of police stopping us is totally political motivated. Despite the fact that government deprived the Sikhs of their religious rights of performing prayers, but we still chose to maintain peace and courted arrest, added Jhinda.