Dabwali, Punjab (February 25, 2014): In July 2013 a Sirsa Court sentenced seven Sikhs to undergo seven years imprisonment each in a 2008 case related to clash between Dera Sauda Sirsa followers and the Sikh sangat. Bhai Harmandar Singh Dabwali was killed by dera followers on 18 July 2008, following which some shops of Dera Sauda Sirsa followers were allegedly burnt by agitated Sikhs.
It is notable that all Dera Sauda Sirsa (DSS) followers accused in this case were acquitted by the Sirsa court in October 2013.
While talking to the Sikh Siyasat News (SSN) Bhai Baljinder Singh Morjand, vice president of Rajasthan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (Adhoc), issued an appeal to Sikh Panth to aid seven Sikhs, convicted by in Dabwali case. These include Bhai Balkaran Singh Khalsa, Shivraj Singh, Amarjit singh, Gurpreet Singh, Gurwinder Singh, Nirmal Singh, and Raju Singh.
“All these Sikhs belong to poor families and after getting punished, the conditions of their families have deteriorated further. Thus they are unable to pursue the cases filed against them”, Bhai Baljinder Singh told SSN while adding that: “the cases were filed against them on July 17, 2008, on the basis of three unnamed FIRs which were similar to each other. On August 12, 2008, the Singhs were arrested, and on December 12, they received bail. One case was dismissed on July, 2013, and the remaining cases of 307, and 436, they were awarded sentence for seven and five years respectively. On other side, Dera followers were acquitted in the case of 307”.