INOC,USA held a press briefing at the Tandoori Hut at Richmond Hill in New York today and expressed solidarity with the Sikh community everywhere and condemned the actions of the perpetrators of the heinous and cowardly acts of desecrating some of the sacred pages of their Holy Shri Guru Granth Sahib ji by tearing and discarding them from the historic Sikh Gurdwara Sahib in the village of Bargari in the district of Faridkot, Punjab. President of INOC, USA Mr. Mohinder Singh Gilzian expressed profound regret and anguish at the incident and demanded from the authorities to take immediate action to apprehend the culprits and bring them to justice forthwith. “The Police assault, apparently without a Court Order, at the innocent and peaceful protesters sitting on the ground in the village of Behbal Kalan amounted to a provocative and an uncalled for act which also deserves condemnation”, said Mr. Harbachan Singh, Secretary General of INOC,USA. Over 200 persons are also reported to have been injured in other areas of Punjab.

Mr. George Abraham, Chairman of INOC, USA expressed grave concern at this sad and unfortunate incident and appealed for calm and good judgement to prevail especially in handling sensitive religious sentiments such as this. Mr. Tejinder Singh Gill, Chapter President of Punjab,Mr. Sawaran Singh, Chapter President of Haryana and Mr. Jaswinder Singh Nawansher member of the Executive Committee, all of INOC, USA also echoed their horror at the incident and appealed for speedy arrest of the culprits.Mr. Gill who spoke at length was careful to caution that no one should take the law into one’s own hand. Other INOC, USA Officials who had voiced their support included, Mr. Zach Thomas, Vice Chairman, Mr. Jose George, Treasurer,Mr. V.B. Sharma, member Executive Committee, Mr. Juned Qazi former President, Mr. U.A. Naseer of the Kerala Chapter and Dr. Leno Thomas. In full accord and sharing the deep grief and sympathy, many prominent members of the New York Tri-State area Sikhs also expressed their strong feelings of pain and anguish caused by this wrong deeds. The following stood out for their pointed remarks – Baboo Joginder Singh Miani, Mr. Manmohan Singh Pooni, Mr. Tarsem Singh, Mr. Jagjit Singh Dasuya, Mr. Satish Sharma and Mr. Gurmit Singh. They warned to remain vigilant lest mischief makers disturb their peaceful coexistence and tranquility. About Forty supporters attended the Press Briefing.

Harbachan Singh Secretary-General Indian National Overseas Congress, USA.