Tribune News Service
Amritsar 23 February
A day after the role of the printing house in the city, which publishes ‘gutkas’, ‘pothis’ and other Sikh religious literature, came under the scanner for alleged offensiveness detected while printing holy scriptures, Satkar Committee members staged protest.
Panel members demanded that the proprietor of the printing house be arrested as they protested in front of it.
According to sources, tension was rising in the area as a result of an accidental shot fired by a licensed weapon from a protester into high air.
The SGPC filed a complaint with police. This led to Chatar Singh, Jeewan Sing Firm being placed under Sections 292-A and 295.-A of the IPC. The complaint claimed that workers from the firm smoked cigarettes, drank tobacco and read religious books.
ASI Sukhwinder Sin, the investigating officer, reported that a DVR was found and some religious literatures were also recovered. However, there were no tobacco products or intoxicants seized from this location.
Nevertheless, the SGPC teams and the satkar committee surprised visitors to the press premises, accompanied yesterday by the police, discovered irregularities in the culture of work on the premises. The SGPC and satkar committee visited the press yesterday to discover irregularities in the work culture.
Partap Singh, secretary of SGPC, filed a complaint with police alleging that gross irregularities had been committed by staff from the press, who appear to be migrants.
“Migrant workers print Sikh holy scriptures. It is a terrible thing to find out that the publishing house for Sikh holy books is filthy. Wrappers of ‘beedi’ are scattered at the place. I have been told that empty liquor bottles have also been found at the spot,” he said.
Satkar committee member Balbir Singh Muchchal said the same firm was banned by the Akal Takht and in 1998 a ‘hukamnama’ was issued against its owners for violating the Sikh ‘rehat maryada’. He said the firm was publishing ‘saroops’ illegally.