New Delhi: Sunday marked the tenth anniversary of the theft of the “Bir” of Guru Granth Sahib from Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village in Faridkot district. Gora Singh, who still serves as a priest at the gurdwara, filed a complaint in 2015. The culprits responsible for the sacrilege have not yet been apprehended by the police.
Gora Singh stated, “Many governments have come and gone since then, but I don’t think justice will be served in the sacrilege cases. Only God can do justice,” The Indian Express reported. Torn pages of the Guru Granth Sahib were found lying on the streets of Bargari village in October 2015. It is believed that these were the pages of the “Bir”, which was reported stolen on June 1, 2015.
The police allegedly killed two Sikhs, Krishan Bhagwan Singh and Gurjit Singh, after the sacrilege incident. The then Punjab Police Chief had to resign due to the uproar in the state following the killings. Despite the outcry, no police officers have been arrested for the crime.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) was accused of involvement in the sacrilege at a mass gathering, “Sharbat Khalsa,” in Amritsar. The police reportedly arrested 26 Dera Sirsa followers in September for installing defamatory posters related to the sacrilege incident. Although many people have been arrested, no one has been convicted so far.
The first arrest in connection with the 2015 sacrilege cases occurred after the arrest of Ram Rahim, the head of Dera Sirsa, in 2018. Three leaders of Dera Sirsa were arrested for their involvement in the sacrilege incident at Malke village in Moga district.
Sacrilege Incidents over the years
According to the Indian Express report, there is no official data on the number of sacrilege cases registered in Punjab since 2015. In 2021, Akal Takht Secretariat Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh stated that almost 250 sacrilege incidents occurred between March 2013 and February 2019.
“According to Akal Takht data, from March 4, 2013, to February 27, 2017, 143 sacrilege incidents occurred (during the SAD-BJP government). We have a list of 104 incidents from February 2017 to February 2019 (during the Congress regime in the state). The data is compiled by Sikh organisations,” Sukhdev Singh Phagwara, spokesman for the Alliance of Sikh Organisations, was quoted as saying by the Indian Express. Many of the suspected and accused individuals were reportedly murdered between 2016 and 2025.
The report also stated that Captain Amarinder Singh had promised justice for the sacrilege incidents after becoming the chief minister in 2017. During his tenure, some Dera Sirsa followers were arrested. However, he later faced allegations that his team, including the then Advocate General of Punjab, Atul Nanda, “mishandled” the case of police firing at Kotakpura, which was related to the sacrilege and in which two Sikhs were killed.
Also, IPS officer Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, who was investigating the Kotakpura and Behbal Kalan police firing cases, had to resign amid the controversy. He later joined the Aam Aadmi Party in 2022, where he was elected as the MLA from Amritsar North.
