A large number of baton-wielding members of Sikh community on Friday stormed into the Parliament House, protesting against the alleged desecration of their holy book. The protesting Sikhs from Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) gathered outside parliament house to protest against what they claimed the acts of alleged desecration in Shikarpur of Guru Granth Sahib - the central religious text of Sikhism.
Later, the protesters forcibly entered the Parliament House through the front gate and staged hour-long sit-in in front of dais set up in front of the Parliament House. They said that their religious sanctity had been violated at least seven times in the past few years.
The most recent incident was the desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib in Mirpur Mathelo, District Ghotki, according to them. They demanded the government to register all their religious sites and worship places like mosques and install CCTV cameras in these places for surveillance and security. The members of Sikh community dispersed after government representatives including PML-N lawmakers Syed Zafar Ali Shah, Ramesh Kumar, Senator Amajeet of the Awami National Party (ANP), police high ups and official of city administration held negotiations with them.
The senate chairman, Nayyar Hussain Bukhari, asked the leader of the house to direct the ministry of interior to conduct an inquiry and submit a report by Monday. Bukhari said that no one could be allowed to force his way into the Parliament House in this manner. Following the protest, the government formed a 13-member committee of members of Sikh community, which would come forward with its demands. Later, Senator Zafar Ali Shah said the members of the Sikh community had apologised for entering the parliament in a violent manner.
He further added that the desecration of the holy text was an intolerable act, adding he would forward the demands of the 13-member committee to the Prime Minister Nawaz Shairf. Security experts termed the incident an eye-opener for the authorities whose tall claims of tight security in the 'Red Zone' were badly exposed after this security breach. Talking to media persons, Inspector General Police (IGP) Altaf Cheema accepted that it was a security breach and incompetence of police personnel. He said that an inquiry will be conducted in this regard and strict action would be taken against the complacent police personnel.
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