Introspect on sacrilege issue, Congress tells Punjab CM

Blaming the Punjab government for "miserable failure" of state police in controlling the situation after sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib, the Punjab Congress on Friday asked Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to introspect as to why the intelligence set-up totally collapsed in the state.

"The recent cases of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib resulted in anarchy as state highways were blocked for days by people. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal should introspect as to why so many cases of sacrilege took place and why the intelligence set-up utterly collapsed. People want to know as to who or which forces are behind these unfortunate incidents," Punjab Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa said in a statement.

Taking the Badal government to task "for miserable failure of the state police in controlling the situation", Bajwa demanded that Badal's massive security should be drastically scaled down so that police could be spared for the primary law and order duty.

"More than a battalion has been deployed for Badal family's security, which is without parallel in the country. Despite this, the Badal family is not in a position to enter villages in Punjab," the state Congress president said.

Opposition Congress leaders on Friday offered prayers at the Golden Temple here for peace and amity in the state that has witnessed violence, protests and roadblocks in the past three weeks by Sikhs agitated over the desecration of Guru Granth Sahib.

Bajwa led the party leaders in offering prayers at the holiest Sikh shrine on the conclusion of 'akhand path' (uninterrupted recitation of the scriptures) organised by him.

The prayers, according to Bajwa, were offered for peace and amity in the state.

Hailing Indian Police Service officer Suresh Arora's appointment as the new Director General of Punjab Police in place of Sumedh Singh Saini, Bajwa said the step was in the "right direction".

"The new DGP is an upright officer. I hope he will soon restore the chain of command that is absent in the police force today," Bajwa said.

He said All India Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi were daily apprised of the "sensitive situation" in the border state.

Two persons were killed in police firing at Behbal Kalan village in Moga district earlier this month and many others injured in violence across Punjab as protests erupted over the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib.