PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Jyotirmath
After the tense standoff at Nagarasu Gurdwara in Rudraprayag ended peacefully on Tuesday, the locals vented anger over the way the Nihang devotees, who had created ruckus on the Gurdwara terrace, were released. They say that releasing those who had flouted law without legal action being taken against them does not portend well for the future. “This will remain a wrong precedent. If such rioters cease to fear the law, it may jeopardise the law and order of the state in coming days,” said an agitated local.
Notably, the four-day stalemate at the Gurdwara was resolved following mediation initiatives involving the Nihang Gurdwara administration and some leaders of the Sikh fraternity in Punjab.
Although the district administration and police had heaved a sigh of relief after the impasse ended, another local Surya Purohit said that the hooligans had pelted stones and threatened them. “Yet, they were provided with police protection,” he wondered.
The CPI- ML leader and resident of Karnprayag, Indresh Maikhuri said that the crisis could have been engineered by the Nihangs purposefully to polarise people in Punjab ahead of the Assembly poll in the state. “Releasing them with police protection can hardly be supported by the law-abiding locals,” he commented.
