Amritsar, July 23 The statewide bandh, called by the SAD and its allied offshoots, remained largely peaceful in this border district today. The bandh had been called by some Sikh organisations in protest against the death of a Sikh youth in a clash with followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda at Dabwali last week.
More than 12 Express mail and important trains, including the Shatabdi, were cancelled and rescheduled. Activists of Damdami Taksal Ajnala blocked the Vallah railway track from the wee hours of the morning.
Similar was the fate of private and government bus services, as no one operated on their scheduled routes.
Activists of various panthic organisations, led by Bhai Ram Singh of the SAD (Amritsar), Bhai Mohkam Singh, convener, Khalsa Action Committee, Manjit Singh Bhoma, president, Sikh Students Federation, and Amarbir Singh Dhot, district president, Sikh Students Federation Mehta, blocked the bypass road on the Jalandhar-Amritsar GT Road.
Activists of various panthic organisations could be seen brandishing swords and other lethal weapons and roaming in the streets and markets of the city.
Business and educational institutes in the region also remained closed. However, the airline services operated their regular flights without any hindrance. The banking services also operated normally.
Talwandi Sabo/Bathinda: Balwant Singh Nandgarh, Jathedar, Takht Damdama Sahib, burnt an effigy of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh at Talwandi Sabo.
Dera Salabatpura, the headquarters of the Sacha Sauda sect in Punjab, along with four other deras of the sect in the district, were condoned off to avoid any untoward incident. The national highways leading to Chandigarh and Delhi were also barricaded.
Making mockery of all security arrangements, some protesting youths thrashed a girl student and manhandled a boy at MGDAV College, where a distant education university was conducting an examination for the M.Sc final year. A number of Sikh youths barged into the college at around 2 p.m. and after protesting against the opening of the college, smashed window panes and notice boards. After the incident, the university authorities postponed the examination to August 13.
More than 200 two-wheeler riders, brandishing swords, forced shops to close shutters. They also attacked some dhabas and shops while on the move.
Officiating DC, Bathinda, Vijay Zade, said, "The day passed off peacefully as no report of violence was received."
Moga: The bandh in the whole district was largely peaceful except for one incident of damaging of a roadways bus on the Zira road.
Government departments and district courts remained open, but the attendance of employees was less compared to normal working days.
Protesters blocked the Ferozepur-Ludhiana national highway, defying the recent orders of the apex court that national highways should remain open round the clock.
Anandpur Sahib: Activists of several Sikh organisations blocked traffic on the Anandpur Sahib-Nangal highway and NH-21 near Balongi and Kharar on Wednesday. In Anandpur Sahib, a marriage party on its way from Una to Anandpur Sahib was stopped.
Workers of the Sikh Students Federation (Mehta), Damdami Taksal, Sant Samaj and local units squatted on the road disrupting traffic. The police intervened to divert the traffic along the Bhakra canal.
The bandh was complete near Anandpur Sahib and Nangal. In Ropar, a few commercial establishments opened in the morning. Activists of the SAD (A) got these establishments closed. In Morinda, a few shops opened in the morning.
At NH-21 near Balongi and Kharar, a handful of activists from the SSF blocked the highway near the sales tax barrier at around 11.30 a.m. for half an hour. Later, the SAD 1920 faction activists blocked the same stretch from 1.30 to 2.30 p.m. and later from 3.15 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Sangrur: Shopkeepers and businessmen here on Wednesday observed a complete bandh by keeping the shutters of their shops and business establishments down in all parts of the town. The bus-stand also wore a deserted look for many hours.
Activists of various Sikh organisations also staged a protest dharna and blocked roads for about nine hours at Mahavir Chowk here. The dharna was attended, among others, by Sant Baba Daler Singh Kherri Sahib Wale and general secretary of the SAD (A) Jeet Singh Alloarkh.
Later the protesters took out a protest march through the main bazaars and reached the district administrative complex here. A memorandum was submitted by the protesters to ADC Indu Malhotra, demanding the arrest of the Dera chief and registration of cases against him. However no untoward incident from any part of the town was reported as the police remained alert at all sensitive points.
Hoshiarpur: All education institutions, business establishments, including banks, shops of vegetable and fruit-sellers, tea stalls rehri vendors etc observed a complete bandh. The entry points, even on some link roads in the district, had been blocked by activists at many places. They parked tractor-trailers and trucks across the road.
Activists of various Sikh organisations, including factions of the SAD, Dal Khalsa, Akhand Kirtani Jatha, Kandi Welfare Society and Sant Samaj, led by Harjinder Singh Dhami, Avtar Singh Khakh, Baba Balbir Singh and Mohinder Singh, took out a protest march from the Singh Sabha Gurdwara and later staged a dharna at the local Clock Tower for more than an hour. The district courts remained suspended.
SSP, Hoshiarpur, Sukhchain Singh Gill said the vehicular traffic was blocked on the Hoshiarpur-Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur-Tanda roads.
Nabha: The police had to resort to a mild lathicharge to disperse hundreds of youths brandishing swords and rods in bazaars of the town on Wednesday morning. Protesters, who forcibly tried to close Dayanand Public School, dispersed on the arrival of the police.