Punjab Education Minister appeals for peace, urges US to probe thoroughly

Chandigarh, Aug. 11 (ANI): Punjab Education Minister Daljit Singh Cheema on Thursday appealed to all Sikh leaders of America, Canada and other parts of the world to maintain peace and communal harmony, while urging the U.S. Government to thoroughly investigate the alleged desecration of the Sikh holy book the Guru Granth Sahib in California. Speaking to ANI, Cheema said, "I appeal to all the Sikh leaders of America, Canada and even Sikhs of other parts of the world that they should maintain peace and communal harmony, because somebody is trying to provoke the community and his designs are very evil. So, we must take care so that peace and communal harmony are not disturbed at any cost, and the U.S. Government should take the case very seriously." Stating that the incident is "extremely serious", Cheema said it must be condemned by everybody as such incidents were aimed at disturbing the peace and communal harmony. "The way this incident took place, it shows that there is some deep-rooted conspiracy. Some agency wants to disturb peace and communal harmony. And time and again, they are perpetrating such incidents in Punjab, and now in America," said Cheema. "We expect that the U.S. Government will take up the case very seriously, and will launch an inquiry and punish the guilty," said Cheema. "I hope one the truth will come to the surface," he added. The Sikh community in California is protesting against the desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib on Wednesday after pages of the Guru Granth Sahib were torn and thrown away by the unidentified miscreants. "The incident took place last evening, when a notorious person torn the holy book into pieces. This has riled up the people of our community. We along with our community will take up this issue. And we expect that American authorities will find a solution to this and bring the culprits to the book. Moving on we also wish that police and local authorities lend us help in the matter," said American Gurudwar Committee coordinator Pritpal Singh. California Mayor Carol Dutra arrived at the protest site and assured the protesters of penal action against the miscreants who have attempted to hurt their religious sentiments. As per reports, police have registered a complaint in the matter. (ANI)