Sikhs rally against youth’s harassment in Jammu

JAMMU - Angry Sikhs from various parts of the Jammu region Friday held a rally here Friday, protesting against a youth’s hair being cut off by a group of youngsters in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district and sought more security for the community in the state.

“It’s a clear attempt to mount an assault on our religious sentiments. The government has failed to protect us,” Surinder Singh, one of the participants in the rally, told IANS.

“We are not going to tolerate this kind of injustice and attack on our religious sentiments,” he added.

A group of youngsters Wednesday evening chopped off the hair of a Sikh youth, identified as Mithun Singh of Divar village in Pulwama, after he refused to recite something they wanted him to. However, he had reportedly raised pro-freedom slogans to save himself from trouble.

Others participating in Friday’s rally said the government should quickly book the culprits. “It would be in the interests of peace and harmony in the state,” one of the rallyists shouted.

The authorities have deployed extra police and paramilitary forceS in the sensitive areas of Jammu city.