Sarpanch removes religious flag,protest turns violent

The situation turned volatile after leaders of the community,backed by members of the Ambedkar Sena and Bahujan Samaj Party,poured out on the village streets and the GT Road in protest.

Lakhwinder Singh along with two other persons has been arrested while the religious flag has been reinstalled at the village dharamshala.

It has been learnt that attempts were being made by the sarpanch for over a month to remove the flag which has been flying high over the dharamshala for over 40 years now. As the news spread,people from nearby towns and cities also began to pour in and the protest soon turned violent.

People threw stones and broke the shop owned by the sarpanch and also pelted stones at this house.

Protestors laid siege on the national highway for over two hours and threatened to launch a stringent protest if the police did not arrest the sarpanch.

The police,meanwhile,were forced to resort to lathicharge to disburse the crowd,which left more than five people injured. They have been rushed to Ludhiana for medical aid.

Commissioner Ludhiana (Urban) Ishwar Singh said,”We have taken appropriate action to the satisfaction of the protestors. The situation is under control.”

Meanwhile,SHO Devinder Gurjar said,”We had warned the village sarpanch last month against taking any such step. He had assured us that nothing would happen. Lakhwinder had claimed that the dharmshala is a common place for all communities had hence the Ravidass community flag should be removed. But we knew that the situation would turn volatile if any such thing happened. We have arrested the sarpanch and the flag is also back in its place.”