| Petaling Jaya, Malaysia | 25 Oct 2015 | Asia Samachar |
Thirty Sikh organisations and 125 gurdwaras in Malaysia are backing a memorandum to express concern with the lost of lives and use of lethal force by the authorities when handling a recent peaceful protest in Punjab.
They will present the memorandum to the Indian High Commission (IHC) in Kuala Lumpur on Tues (27 Oct).
A peaceful gathering is planned at the IHC office, a first of such gathering aimed at the Indian authorities for many years.
“The memorandum is also demanding that action be taken on those responsibile for the descecration of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib,” a member of the memorandum drafting team told Asia Samachar.
“We will hold a peaceful gathering. Busses are coming from both north and south of the Peninsular.”
On Saturday (Oct 24), 19 organisations had converged at Gurdwara Sahib Petaling Jaya in Selangor to sign the memorandum. The rest are expected to do so in the next few days.
Among the organisations represented were Yayasan Sant Attar Singh Ji Brahm Vidya Niketan, Sikh Women Awareness Network (SWAN), Sikh Welfare Society, Penang Sikh Association, Malaysian Sikh Union (MSU), Pertubuhan Pembangunan Insan Sikh (PPIS), Subang Sikh Association and Malaysia Foodbank Organisation.
The spark for the current bout of protests came after a torn-up copy of Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh scripture, was found in the village of Bargari, near Kot Kapura in Faridkot district.
The alleged desecration of the holy book angered many who came out to protest in Behbal Kalan, a nearby village, on 14 Oct. As tempers soared, police opened fire. They say they shot in the air, but two protesters were killed and dozens of others wounded, according to a BBC report (20 Oct 2015).
The killings have further angered Sikh community members who have taken to blocking highways and bridges, demanding action against those who they say desecrated the holy book, the report adds.
In a one-week period, the report added, there had been at least five reports of copies of the Guru Granth Sahib being desecrated.
Torn-up copies of the holy book have been found in different areas of the state – at Jandiala village in Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Tarn Taran near Amritsar, Kot Kapura and Gurusar Jalal village in Bathinda district in the south of the state.
In the wake of the events in Punjab, a meeting was called by the Sikh Naujawan Sabha Malaysia (SNSM) and Malaysian Gurdwaras Council (MGC) in Kuala Lumpur to discuss the response of Sikhs in Malaysia.
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