Amritsar: The Akal Takht Jathedar and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee on Friday criticises the authorities for stopping fugitive radical preacher Amritpal Singh’s wife Kirandeep Kaur at an airport here from boarding a flight to the UK.
In a video statement issued here, Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh said that stopping Kaur at an airport in Amritsar was not right from any angle as she was headed to her parental home.
Governments shouldn’t create an atmosphere of panic in the region and Kaur should not have been stopped, said the Jathedar of Akal Takht, which is the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs.
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the apex religious body of the Sikhs, also condemned the act of stopping Kaur at the international airport.
SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami alleged that the Punjab government and the police administration are creating an atmosphere of terror among the youth.
Kaur was stopped from boarding a flight to London at the Sri Guru Ram Dass International Airport here on Thursday.
She was questioned by the immigration authorities and some other officials for more than three hours and thereafter, asked to return along with some relatives who had come to see her off at the airport.
Police had visited Kaur’s house numerous times earlier as well and questioned her and her family, Singh said.
“Moreover, she is a British national. She didn’t commit any crime and if the government wants to ask or enquire anything from her, they should respectfully visit her residence,” said the Akal Takht Jathedar.
Dhami, in a statement, said that the history of Punjab is of protecting and respecting the daughters and sisters, “but it is not right for the present government to stop daughters like this while suspecting them”.
“Such acts do not suit the government which disrespects the beliefs of Punjab,” he said.
Dhami said that it is the right of every citizen to visit their family and go anywhere.
“Detaining someone without charge is a direct violation of human rights and the government should avoid such acts,” he said.
Singh married Kaur, a UK-based Non-Resident Indian, on February 10.
Kaur, who is a British citizen, reached the airport at around noon to board the flight to London but was stopped by the immigration staff and later, the Punjab Police was informed.
More than a month after a police crackdown against Amritpal Singh and his aides, the radical preacher continues to remain elusive even as a manhunt to nab him is underway.
Police launched the crackdown against Singh and members of his outfit ‘Waris Punjab De’ on March 18.
He and his associates were booked under several criminal cases related to spreading disharmony among classes, attempt to murder, attack on police personnel and creating obstructions in the lawful discharge of duty by public servants.
Singh got married to Kaur in a simple ceremony at Jallupur Khera, his native village in Amritsar.
The ‘Anand Karaj’ (marriage as per Sikh rituals) was held with a limited gathering of family members from both sides at a gurdwara in Baba Bakala in Amritsar.
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