2015 Guru Granth Sahib desecration controversy

The 2015 Guru Granth Sahib desecration (also known as the 2015 Guru Granth Sahib sacrilege) refers to a series of desecration incidents of the Sikh Guru Guru Granth Sahib and subsequent protests that took place in Punjab, India in October 2015. The first incident of desecration was reported from Bargari, Faridkot district, where 110 torn Angs of the holy Guru were found on 12 October. On the early morning hours of 14 October, two protesters died during an unprovoked firing by the police forces, while they were sitting in on a peaceful protest. The incidents were also condemned by the Sikh diaspora in UK, US and Canada. On 20 November, the Punjab Cabinet proposed to increase the penalty for sacrilege from three years in prison to life imprisonment. The bill was passed on 22 March 2016.

On the afternoon of June 1ST 2015, Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy Guru, was taken from a gurdwara in a village called Burj Jawahar Singh Wala in Faridkot district, Punjab. On June 5 , several Sikh leaders, including Baljit Singh Daduwal, gave an ultimatum to the police to find the culprits. On 11 June, members of various Sikh religious organisation held a protest in the village accusing the police of inaction. They tried to gherao (surround) the local police station. A large police unit was deployed to prevent it.

On the morning of 12 October 2015, more than 110 pages of the Guru Granth Sahib were found lying on the ground in front of the a gurdwara in Bargari, Faridkot district. The residents of the town and nearby villages declared a bandh. The members of some Sikh religious organisation arrived in the town and in the evening a protest march carrying the torn pages was held. In nearby Kotkapura, protestors blocked a major highway intersection. Large number of police personnel were deployed to prevent violence. The protestors refused to unblock the highways, despite requests from the local police chiefs, demanding that the perpetrators to be arrested.

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Wikipedia