Simranjit Singh Mann injured in a clash in Amritsar
Kathunangal, Amritsar, Oct 25: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD-Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Mann was seriously injured in a clash with SAD (Badal) and Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) officials at a function here today, police sources said.
According to the police, five to six others from both the sides also sustained injuries. They had been rushed to hospitals in Amritsar.
Mann who was attacked with `kirpans` by members of the SGPC task force, sustained head injuries and has been rushed to a hospital in Amritsar, an eyewitness said. His condition was described as serious.
Police sources said the clash took place inside the premises of the historic gurdwara of Baba Buddha Sahib on the occasion of the 500th birth anniversary celebrations of Baba Buddha at a village on the Amritsar-Pathankot National Highway.
The village is the birthplace of Baba Buddha, who was the first head granthi (priest) of the Harmandir Sahib, during the period of the fifth Sikh Guru Arjan Dev.
According to police sources, the clash took place when Mann and his supporters were stopped by the SGPC task force from attending the birth anniversary function organised by the SAD (Badal) and the SGPC. Mann and his supporters insisted on moving towards the platform on which were seated former Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal, former Haryana Chief Minister O P Chautala, BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu, SGPC Chief Avtar Singh Makkar and a number of other senior leaders.
A verbal duel ensued between the task force and SAD (Badal) supporters on the one hand and Mann on the other. At this stage supporters of both the groups drew out their swords and advanced at each other. In the melee that followed Mann was hit by a sword on the head and he immediately collapsed in a pool of blood.
Mann, a former MP from Sangrur, is the brother-in-law of Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh.
It is not for the first time that Mann has insisted on attending a function organised by the SGPC and the Badal Dal. An unsavoury situation had erupted when unsheathed swords were brandished during the quadricentennial celebrations of the foundation of Akal Takht at Gurdwara Manji Sahib inside the Golden Temple complex in June when the SGPC refused to give time to Mann to address the Sikh congregation after Badal had finished speaking.
Later in July, during a function to mark the 400th martyrdom anniversary of Guru Arjan Dev at Tarn Taran, Mann raised a voice for reviving the Anandpur Sahib draft of 1973 from the stage of SGPC in the presence of BJP national president Rajnath Singh thereby putting Badal in an embarrassing position.
The SGPC chief Jathedar Makkar had yesterday warned that the Punjab government would be responsible for any disturbance on the occasion of the birth anniversary celebrations of Baba Buddha.
Mann had earlier declared that under no circumstances would his party tolerate that the glorious history of Sikhs be tainted by the participation of Chautala and Sidhu in a religious function.
He had stated that the politics of these two political leaders was `inimical to Sikh and Punjabi interest``.
Bureau Report
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Kathunangal, Amritsar, Oct 25: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD-Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Mann was seriously injured in a clash with SAD (Badal) and Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) officials at a function here today, police sources said.
According to the police, five to six others from both the sides also sustained injuries. They had been rushed to hospitals in Amritsar.
Mann who was attacked with `kirpans` by members of the SGPC task force, sustained head injuries and has been rushed to a hospital in Amritsar, an eyewitness said. His condition was described as serious.
Police sources said the clash took place inside the premises of the historic gurdwara of Baba Buddha Sahib on the occasion of the 500th birth anniversary celebrations of Baba Buddha at a village on the Amritsar-Pathankot National Highway.
The village is the birthplace of Baba Buddha, who was the first head granthi (priest) of the Harmandir Sahib, during the period of the fifth Sikh Guru Arjan Dev.
According to police sources, the clash took place when Mann and his supporters were stopped by the SGPC task force from attending the birth anniversary function organised by the SAD (Badal) and the SGPC. Mann and his supporters insisted on moving towards the platform on which were seated former Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal, former Haryana Chief Minister O P Chautala, BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu, SGPC Chief Avtar Singh Makkar and a number of other senior leaders.
A verbal duel ensued between the task force and SAD (Badal) supporters on the one hand and Mann on the other. At this stage supporters of both the groups drew out their swords and advanced at each other. In the melee that followed Mann was hit by a sword on the head and he immediately collapsed in a pool of blood.
Mann, a former MP from Sangrur, is the brother-in-law of Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh.
It is not for the first time that Mann has insisted on attending a function organised by the SGPC and the Badal Dal. An unsavoury situation had erupted when unsheathed swords were brandished during the quadricentennial celebrations of the foundation of Akal Takht at Gurdwara Manji Sahib inside the Golden Temple complex in June when the SGPC refused to give time to Mann to address the Sikh congregation after Badal had finished speaking.
Later in July, during a function to mark the 400th martyrdom anniversary of Guru Arjan Dev at Tarn Taran, Mann raised a voice for reviving the Anandpur Sahib draft of 1973 from the stage of SGPC in the presence of BJP national president Rajnath Singh thereby putting Badal in an embarrassing position.
The SGPC chief Jathedar Makkar had yesterday warned that the Punjab government would be responsible for any disturbance on the occasion of the birth anniversary celebrations of Baba Buddha.
Mann had earlier declared that under no circumstances would his party tolerate that the glorious history of Sikhs be tainted by the participation of Chautala and Sidhu in a religious function.
He had stated that the politics of these two political leaders was `inimical to Sikh and Punjabi interest``.
Bureau Report
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