Over 150 Nihangs on Sunday took part in a victory rally from a gurudwara in Himachal Pradesh to one in Punjab’s Mohali following the release of their four community members who were arrested in Uttarakhand 11 days ago.
The Nihangs had given a two-day ultimatum to the Pushkar Singh Dhami government on Friday night and threatened to barge into Dehradun, 48km from Paonta Sahib in Himachal, if their four peers arrested from Karnaprayag on assault charges were not released.
Chamoli district and sessions court granted bail to the four Nihangs on Saturday evening upon furnishing a personal bond of ₹50,000 each and two sureties of the same amount.
Eyewitnesses told local reporters that the four Nihangs were brought to Paonta Sahib amid police protection and handed over to their peers who had been waiting for them since June 26. From there, they led the victory march to Gurudwara Singh Shaheedan Sohana in Punjab’s Mohali.
Flashing swords and spears, the Nihangs on motorcycles and open Jeeps chanted religious slogans on their way back to Punjab.
Jagdeep Singh, one of the leaders of the Nihangs, said: “We came here and maintained peace because we didn’t want politicians to take advantage of the situation. We had started our journey from the gurudwara in Mohali and reached the Uttarakhand border (on Friday night) with some demands. We are going back because our demands have been met.
“The arrested Nihangs had only tried to protect themselves from the people who had attacked them. The police took one-sided action and pulled the turban of our men,” he added.
Baba Major Singh Sodhi, a Khalsa leader, said: “Three of the four men who were released prayed at the Paonta Sahib Gurudwara before returning to Punjab. One of them is unwell. We thank the government for actively resolving the deadlock.”
Despite prohibitory orders, the armed Nihangs had barged into Dehradun district on Friday night and refused to return without their four sect members identified as Satvindar Singh, Jasanpreet Singh, Ajay Singh and Manpreet Singh. The quartet were arrested on June 17 for attacking and injuring four people in Karnaprayag over a parking dispute. Three of them were lodged in jail while Manpreet was admitted to AIIMS in Rishikesh with injuries.
Prakash Rawat, a Karnaprayag businessman who was injured in the attack, is still under treatment at a private hospital in Dehradun.
To protest the arrest, seven Nihangs returning from Hemkund Sahib had stormed the Damdama Gurudwara at Nagrasu in Rudraprayag and laid siege to it from June 20 to 23, demanding the release of their four community members.