Punjab sacrilege Bill opens Pandora’s box, Ravidassias want scripture in it

The Punjab Prevention of Offences against Holy Scriptures Bill, passed by the Vidhan Sabha last week, has opened a Pandora’s box for the Aam Aadmi Party government, with an important religious sect, having a huge political clout, now demanding that their holy scripture, too, be included in this anti-sacrilege Bill.

The Ravidassia community, which claims that 22 per cent of the state population comprises Ravidassias, has demanded that its holy book, Amritbani Satguru Ravidass Ji, should be included in the holy scriptures specified in the Bill.

The most important dera of the community, Dera Ballan, has given a written representation to the 15-member select committee of MLAs constituted to study the Bill and discuss it with all stakeholders.

Their demand was brought before the select committee, headed by Amritsar South MLA and chairperson of the Chief Khalsa Diwan Inderbir Singh Nijjar, by former minister and AAP MLA Brahm Shankar Jimpa during the first meeting of the committee at the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Secretariat today.

During the meeting, it was reportedly decided that the anti-sacrilege acts of other states or countries be examined from the legal point of view. The next meeting of the committee has been scheduled for July 29.

Confirming that they had submitted their demand letter, Satpaul Virdi, legal adviser of the Akhil Bhartiya Ravidassia Dharam Sangathan and former secretary of Dera Ballan, said while they had already written to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann demanding that their Amritbani Satguru Ravidass Ji be included in the Bill, they had also started talking to MLAs from their community to exert pressure on the government.

Virdi claimed that they were fighting to get the status of religion for Ravidassias, as they were so far considered a religious sect.

Dera Ballan has a significant political clout in the Doaba region of the state, though trustees of the dera maintain that they are apolitical.

It is because of this clout that every Chief Minister, leaders of all political parties as well as all MLAs and ministers from the Doaba region visit the dera regularly.

In the recent past, parties have also given ticket to members of the dera to contest elections.

As word of the Ravidassias’ demand for including their holy scripture goes around, there are apprehensions that many other deras in the state may start making similar demands. Most of these deras have their own scriptures, which may or may not be derived from Guru Granth Sahib or the Bhagavad Gita.

Though the holy scriptures referred to in this Bill are Guru Granth Sahib or extracts thereof, including Pothis and Gutka Sahib, Bhagavad Gita, Quran and the Bible, BJP MLA Jangi Lal Mahajan, who is also a member of this select committee, had earlier demanded that all Hindu holy scriptures, including the Ramayana, be included in the anti-sacrilege Bill.

Meanwhile, after the meeting, chairman Nijjar said the public could give its suggestions to not just the select committee members, but also to any MLA, who can bring it up before the committee.

“We will try and finish our work before the stipulated six-month period. In the next meeting, we will decide on how to seek suggestions from the public — through email or a dedicated phone number. It is a sensitive issue, and we will take suggestions of all religious leaders and bodies, including the SGPC… A sub-committee can also be made,” he said.

Of the 15 members in the committee, 13 MLAs were present. Amandeep Kaur and Baljinder Kaur were not present. Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan was also present. The committee comprises two MLAs from the Congress — Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa and Balwinder Singh, one member each from the BJP (Jangi Lal Mahajan) and SAD (Manpreet Singh Ayali), besides 10 from the ruling AAP — Ajay Gupta, Amandeep Kaur, Inderjit Kaur Mann, Baljinder Kaur, Nina Mittal, Jagdeep Kamboj, Budh Ram, Brahm Shankar Jimpa, Madan Bagga and Mohammad Jamil ur Rehman.

The Bill, commonly referred to as the anti-sacrilege Bill, was passed unanimously in the Vidhan Sabha on July 15. The Bill lays down that the punishment for offences related to sacrilege will vary between minimum 10 years to life imprisonment.

Beadbi Morcha members meet panel

Representatives of the Sarb Dharam Beadbi Roko Morcha, whose member Gurjeet Singh Khalsa has been atop a telecom tower in Samana for over 280 days demanding harsh punishment for acts of sacrilege, also reportedly met members of the committee on Thursday. They were informed of the status of the Bill and reportedly asked to convince Khalsa to climb down from the tower, now that the anti-sacrilege law was in the works.

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