caste-related atrocities in India, the Hindustan Times reported.
As hundreds of people and political workers descended on the small Ballabhgarh town, several police contingents were deployed in the area, the second time this year after hundreds of Muslims were driven away from their homes in riots in the Atalli village in May.
India banned caste-based discrimination in its Constitution but such atrocities continue unabated against the 20-crore-strong Dalit community in several parts of the country. Historically oppressed by upper-caste communities, the Dalits allege crimes committed against them are considered a low priority by police and the administration.
Earlier this month, a 90-year-old Dalit man was hacked with an axe and burnt alive when he tried to enter a temple in Uttar Pradesh. Days later, a Dalit family in Greater Noida’s Dankaur was allegedly stripped naked after the police and administration did nothing to stop harassment at the hands of an upper-caste family, which Sikh community continued protest demonstrations across Indian Punjab on Tuesday against the alleged desecration of their holy book.
The Sikh activists blocked key roads in several parts of Punjab and burnt effigies of the provincial chief minister Parkash Singh Badal.According to reports pouring in from Indian media, paramilitary forces have been deployed in Amritsar, Ludhiana and Jalandhar cities of Punjab in view of the security situation arising from the protests after the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of the Sikhs.
Police said several highways remained blocked for hours as traffic was diverted during ongoing demonstrations by the Sikh protesters.
Peshawar bureau adds: The members of the Sikh community in Peshawar staged a protest against the desecration of their holy book and demanded punishment to those involved in the incident.
They were also carrying portraits of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The protesters torched his effigy to resent the inaction and silence of the Indian government over the victimisation of minorities and failure to protect the rights of the marginal groups.
Member Provincial Assembly and Special Assistant to Chief Minister Sardar Suran Singh was leading the protesters who gathered near the building of the Peshawar Press Club to stage the protest. The speakers said the desecration of the holy book hurt the sentiments of Sikh community across the globe.
They said the Sikhs decision to remain part of the India has been proved wrong. “The Indian government policies prove that no minority group is safe there,” said Sardar Suran Singh.
The protesters said there was no religious freedom in the so-called secular state of India. They asked the Pakistan government to raise the issue of injustices committed with minorities in India at the international forums.