Amritsar, Jul 6 (PTI) Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Harjinder Singh Dhami on Wednesday said the leaders who played politics on the desecration issue should apologise to the Sikh 'Panth'.

With the final investigation report of the Punjab Police on the 2015 desecration cases having pinned blame on Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda, Dhami said the then Akali government had no involvement.

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In the past, the Shiromani Akali Dal, the "Panthic class", has been slandered for political gain by governments and these people should apologise for it, said Dhami.

He said as soon as the crimes of sacrilege were committed, the then Akali government had registered FIRs and started investigation but at the request of some Sikh bodies, the matter was handed over to the CBI by the government. “After this, the previous Congress government continued to do politics on this issue for five years. Due to the biased attitude of the SIT set up by the Congress government, the Hon'ble High Court rejected its report and ordered the formation of a new SIT. The report of the new SIT has revealed that the then government had no role in the sacrilege cases, but had registered FIRs and initiated investigations," he said.

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He demanded that the perpetrators of sacrilege should be punished and the Sikh 'Panth' be given justice.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had on Saturday handed over a 467-page report of the special investigation team of the Punjab Police to Sikh leaders.

The SIT led by Inspector General of Police SPS Parmar investigated the incidents and submit the report to the state DGP on April 21.

The incidents related to the theft of a 'bir' (copy) of the Guru Ganth Sahib, putting up handwritten sacrilegious posters and torn pages of the holy book found scattered at Bargari had taken place in Faridkot in 2015.

These incidents had led to protests in Faridkot. In the police firing at protesters in October 2015, two persons were killed in Behbal Kalan while some people were injured at Kotkapura in Faridkot.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)