Uneasy calm prevails in Punjab; prayers held, protest continue

Punjab remained tense today with Sikh activists continuing protests against incidents of sacrilege and killing of two youth in police firing last week while central para military forces held flag marches.
Prayer meetings were held at various places as "repentence" for sacrilege of the sikh holy book. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal participated in one such meeting at Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib at Anandpur Sahib.
As tension prevailed amid protests, police and central para military forces held flag marches at various places including Tarn Taran, Amritsar and Hoshiarpur. Ten companies of central para military forces were on alert in four districts - Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Tarn Taran.

Activists of sikh groups squatted on roads at several places including Moga, Faridkot, Bathinda, Amritsar, Beas and Hoshiarpur blocking traffic movements as part of their over a week old agitation, officials said.
Punjab Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa alleged "complete breakdown of constitutional machinery" and demanded resignation of Badal and his son Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and imposition of President's Rule in the state.
Police detained two independet MLA brothers from Ludhiana Simrajit Singh Bains and Balwinder Singh Bains when they along with their supporters tried to gherao house of Badal in Chandigarh, police said. Water cannons were used to disperse the procession led by the Bains brothers.

In Faridkot district, traffic was blocked in parts by Sikh activists in protest against the arrest of two brothers by police yesterday in connection with the first sacrilege incident at Bargari village in the district.
Family members of Rupinder Singh and Jaswinder Singh, both arrested yesterday, for the Bargari sacrilege condemned police action claiming they were innocent.