Sectarian violence cause for
concern in Punjab

DH News Service JALANDHAR, June 7 

Curfew was imposed in some parts of Jalandhar city on Saturday morning to curb the arson and violence unleashed by the Dalit community following Jat Sikh-Dalit clash in nearby Talhan village.

The latest incident has posed a few disturbing questions for the Punjabi society at large. One person was killed in police firing on Thursday night and 12 others were injured when a mob of Dalits resorted to arson in Jalandhar to protest against the Jat-Dalit clash in nearby Talhan village. 

VIOLENCE: Incidents of arson and violence continued throughout the day on Friday. Pushed on the back foot, the district administration on Friday evening deployed the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in the city. While the administration imposed curfew in some parts of Jalandhar city this morning, the curfew continued to be imposed without relaxation in Talhan village. The current clash between two castes is a cause for concern for the Punjabi society which has largely remained free of sectarian violence. 

The spectacle of pitched battles between the two communities on the streets is without a precedent in the state that hardly witnessed any communal clashes even when sikh militancy was at its peak in ‘80s. In fact, it was the amity between the Hindus and the Sikhs which ultimately defeated the designs of the separatist militants and ultimately led to uprooting of militancy. Gross failure of the police and civil administration in letting tensions between the Dalits and Jat Sikhs in Talhan village simmer over the past five months is also responsible for the present turmoil. 

The administration took no preventive measures though tension was prevailing in the village for the past five months. The caste divide in the village was accentuated by the Jat Sikh inspired social boycott of the majority dalit community in the village in January this year. The struggle for control of a religious place in the village is at the heart of the dispute. 
As per modest estimates, offerings to the tune of Rs 5 crore are made annually at the religious place — a functional gurdwara. 

The Jat Sikh community in the village reportedly excluded the Dalits from the managing committee of the gurdwara and instead slapped a “social boycott” against the community. Apathy of the civic-police administration can be gauged from the fact that police investigations into the boycott issue entrusted to a Superintendent of Police in January have lingered on for five months now without any report being submitted.