KARACHI: The Pakistan Sikh Council has warned the government that the community will launch a countrywide protest movement if the all the culprits who had desecrated their holy book, Guru Granth Sahib, are not arrested by May 31.

Speaking at a press conference at Karachi Press Club on Monday, PSC patron in chief Sardar Ramesh Singh demanded that a judicial commission be instituted to investigate how and why all of a sudden such incidents started happening across Sindh.

He said that all the culprits be arrested, tried and awarded stern punishment so that it could act as a deterrence to other unscrupulous elements who might be planning similar acts in future.

He demanded that security be provided to the religious places of minority communities.

Giving details of the incidents in which the copy of their holy book was burnt, he said that the incidents were reported from Dal Darbar in Pano Aqil, Guru Nanak Darbar Mehar in Dadu district, Samadha Ashram, Sajal Sher Jhulelal Darbar and Khatwari Darbar in Shikarpur district. Only this month, similar incidents were reported from Bhagnari Temple in Karachi’s Lea Market and Jai Ram Das Darbar in Madheji, Shikarpur, on May 6 and 7, respectively.

He said that the Sikh community had been living in peace and harmony with other communities in Sindh for centuries and such incidents had never happened in the past. He said the community believed that certain unscrupulous elements in society wanted to create unrest by hurting sentiments of other communities.

He said that Sikhs were as much patriotic as other communities living in Pakistan and did not want to stage protest that could create embarrassment for the country internationally, but they had been pushed to the wall and it was the government’s responsibility to recognise Sikh community’s religious sentiments and provide safety and security to the community and arrest the culprits.

He said the community had also approached the chief justice of Pakistan who had directed the advocate general and additional DIG (legal) on May 13, 2014 that FIRs of all such incidents under Section 295 of the Pakistan Penal Code be produced in court on the next hearing and the culprits be arrested.

He said that community representatives had met Sindh Minister for Religious Minorities Giyan Chand and Senator Hari Ram besides other legislators who had assured them that a meeting of the community leaders with the chief minister would be arranged. However, he added, no such meeting had been arranged so far.

Mr Ramesh expressed the hope that the federal government would keep the promise to the Sikh demonstrators, who had entered the parliament in Islamabad a few days back, that the culprits would be arrested, tried and punished sternly in accordance with the law.

Sardar Karan Singh Rai, Sardar Manjeet Singh, Sardar Saran Singh, Sardar Arjan Singh, Sardar Manmohan Singh and Sardar Bhola Singh were also present at the press conference.

Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2014