Pak court sends notice to Pb govt for arrest of ex SGPC Prez

A Pakistani court today issued a notice to the Punjab government on bail petition filed by former president of Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandakh Committee (PSGPC), who is facing a blasphemy case for attacking a Gurdwara in Nankana Sahib.
Police had registered a blasphemy case against former PSGPC president Sardar Mastan Singh and his 25 accomplices, mostly Sikhs, for allegedly attacking a Gurdwara in Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Sikhism's founder Guru Nanak, and chanting anti-sate slogans on the complaint of PSGPC incumbent president Sardar Sham Singh.
The counsel for Mastan Singh today told the Lahore High Court that Sham Singh had got a 'fake' blasphemy case registered against his client and 25 others.

He saidEvacuee Trust Property Board head Siddiqul Farooq and Sham Singh joined hands with land mafia and illegally sold hundreds of canal land belonging to the Gurdwara Janam Asthan, Nankana Sahib (the birth place of Sikhism's founder Baba Guru Nanak) to a housing scheme.
"Sham Singhat the behest of Siddiqul Farooq have got fake case registered against his client and others to stop them from raising voice against illegal selling of the land," he said, pleading the court to release Mastan Singh on bail.
The division bench of LHC headed by Justice Mazhar Iqbal Sidhu adjourned the court till Tuesday to seek replies from the provincial government and the prosecution department.

A good number ofSikhs gathered at the court premises also held a demonstration against Saddiqul Farooq and Sham Singh.

They chanted slogans against them and demanded immediate release of Mastan Singh.
Police last month registered a blasphemy case against Mastan Singh and his 25 accomplices, mostly Sikhs, for allegedly attacking a Gurdwara in Nankana Sahib and chanting anti-sate slogans.
Mastan Singh, who is in jail on judicial remand, on Nov 25 during 547th birthday anniversary celebrations of Baba Guru Nanak, allegedly surrounded Siddiqul Farooq along with his fellow community members and protested for not being permitted to take out a rally in Nankana Sahib, some 80 kilometers from Lahore.

On this an FIR wasregistered under section 295-A (blasphemy), 123-A (anti-state slogans), 440, 506, 186 and 147 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) against Mastan Singh and 25 others.