The CPIML condemns the instances of lynchings in Punjab at the Golden Temple and at a Gurudwara in Kapurthala in the name of avenging attempts at “sacrilege” to the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahab. Insults to religion - any religion - can never be a valid justification for killing human beings. The failure of the Punjab police to file an FIR against the perpetrators of the lynchings, including the one that took place in their presence, is shameful. Equally shameful are the comments by Punjab politicians across parties justifying the lynching as a reasonable response to “sacrilege”.
Desecration or vandalism of the sacred books or sites of minority religions are usually acts of majoritarian communal violence that call for punishment. The failure of the Punjab Government, police and administration to satisfactorily investigate and identify the culprits of a series of such instances of vandalism of the Sikh holy book over the years is condemnable. But these cannot be used to justify mob violence and killings of human beings.
CPIML demands the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators of the recent lynchings in Punjab.
