Sri Akal Takht Sahib Jathedar Asks For Action Over Brutal Assault on Sikh Ex-Serviceman and Son in Machhiwara Sahib

Sri Amritsar, May 5: Kanwar Partap Singh 
Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib, Giani Kuldip Singh Gargajj, has taken serious notice of the brutal assault carried out last night in Machhiwara Sahib town by municipal council employees on a hardworking Sikh farmer (a retired army personnel), Kuldeep Singh and his minor son, Sumanpreet Singh (16). The Sikh farmer has been injured seriously in his head while he is facing difficulty in hearing from right ear and in seeing from right eye. He has asked the Khanna police administration to identify the accused municipal employees, register a case against them, and take strict legal action. Jathedar Gargajj stated firmly that if legal action is not taken against the accused within 24 hours, he will personally meet the victim Sikh family and stand by them in pursuing further action.
Jathedar Giani Kuldip Singh Gargajj said that if a retired army man is being subjected to such treatment by the local municipal administration, one can well imagine the extent of injustice faced by ordinary people in Punjab. He said that in this matter, he has personally spoken with the SSP of Khanna and the President of the Municipal Council of Machhiwara Sahib, urging strict action against the accused.
According to available information, the victim Sikh youth is a retired soldier from the Indian Army who now earns his livelihood through farming. He grows vegetables in his fields and sells them in the market himself using a tractor trolley. The municipal council employees allegedly beat him mercilessly simply because he had questioned them shortly before the incident, when they came to remove his trolley, asking what difference it made if his tractor was parked there when many other carts were already present. Enraged, the municipal employees first took away his weighing scale and later returned to assault him. Acting like hooligans, they brutally beat the hardworking farmer and his son.
Jathedar Giani Kuldip Singh Gargajj stated that such treatment of hardworking Sikh farmers in Punjab cannot be tolerated under any circumstances, especially when, in towns and cities, carts belonging to outsiders are openly allowed after taking money. He added that when Sikh youth in Punjab engage in honest labour, they are being harassed by government-backed goons, which must be curbed immediately.