Pages of Guru Granth Sahib found torn at Goraya gurdwara, minor detained

Six “angs” (pages) of the Guru Granth Sahib were found torn and scattered at Gurdwara Guru Nanak Darbar in Mahal village (Goraya) on Tuesday evening, triggering tension in the area.

The police said a minor boy had been rounded up in connection with the incident. It claimed the boy, who has marginal intellectual impairment, was disturbed by an ongoing dispute between two factions over the management of the gurdwara.

The incident was reported around 6 pm. Eyewitnesses said torn “angs” were found scattered both inside and outside the shrine. A case has been registered against the minor under Section 299 of the BNS at the Goraya police station.

Following the desecration, two Birs of Guru Granth Sahib were shifted from the gurdwara to Anandpur Sahib on Wednesday for safekeeping. Representatives of both rival factions have been directed to appear before the Akal Takht.

The police said CCTV cameras installed inside the gurdwara were non-functional at the time. However, the minor was identified using footage from cameras outside the premises.

SGPC teams led by Tek Singh Dhanaula relocated the two Birs (one containing the torn “angs” and another intact) until repair and reconstruction work is completed.

Jalandhar (Rural) SSP Harvinder Singh Virk said, “A case has been registered against a 15-year-old Class X student by name. The child is a juvenile and has certain intellectual impairment. The CCTV footage makes it clear that he was acting alone. As per preliminary investigation, he had been perturbed by the gurdwara dispute. Further investigation is on. The possibility of involvement of any other party will also be probed.”

Hours after the incident, representatives of several Sikh organisations gathered outside the gurdwara and protested. During the protest, glass panes of the house of the gurdwara’s de facto manager, Rashpal Singh Rana, were broken.

Rana said, “From January 16 onwards, I was being prevented from entering the gurdwara. Some villagers took away the keys and started locking the shrine. I was shocked to learn about the desecration incident.”

Parminder Singh, a sewadar, said, “Some villagers had been preventing us from entering the gurdwara for several days. Requests for the repair of gurdwara and CCTVs went unaddressed for years.