Briefly Region

Truck laden with beef seized in Gurdaspur
The Gurdaspur police have seized a truck laden with beef and detained three persons. The truck was headed for Uttar Pradesh. A total of 70 quintals of beef were seized following a tip-off. Inspector Paramjit Singh said a case under various Sections of the Anti-Cow Slaughter Act had been registered.

NGO brings school dropouts back to studies
The Sher-e-Punjab Sports Club of Ferozepur district sponsored education of eight girls from Noorpur Sethan village who had dropped out of school due to financial problems. The girls had started working as labourers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. At a function organised in the village on Monday,the club got these girls enrolled in the local government senior secondary school. Sarpanch Bhagwan Singh had approached this NGO,seeking help for the girls. Raghbir Singh Khara,district youth coordinator,Nehru Yuva Kendra,Ferozepur,was the chief guest. He appreciated the club’s effort.

TV show rejects Gatka player,SGPC angry
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) took a strong exception to the “derogatory remarks” made by one of the judges of a reality show,India’s Got Talent,on Colours TV,in which a seven-year-old Sikh boy,Manpreet Singh,was rejected for playing Gatka,a Sikh martial art. In a press statement issued here,an SGPC spokesperson said the boy was an expert Gatka player and the judge said such a little boy should not play with arms. “The statement has hurt the feelings of the Sikhs who respect the art form. To say that a child should not play with swords is an insult to the great martial art that exhibits the courage and style of the beholder of the sword,” said the spokesman. The SGPC sought unconditional apology from the producer of the show and asked the channel to be sensitive towards religious matters.

SGPC asks J&K to ensure safety of minorities
Taking strong exception to the forcible chopping of a Sikh youth’s hair at Dewar in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kahsmir,Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) chief Avatr Singh Makkar has sought protection of minorities from the J&K government. He said they would appeal to the government to take steps to ensure the protection of life and property of the Sikhs in Kashmir. SGPC secretary Dalmegh Singh said a committee had been constituted to meet the J&K government and they even booked tickets to visit the neighbouring state,but had to cancel the plans in view of the curfew imposed in the Valley.

Recent arrests of terrorists only a hype ahead of SGPC polls: Former minister
Former minister and rebel Akali leader Manjit Singh Calcutta said on Monday the recent arrests of “terrorists” and seizure of arms and ammunition by the police were being hyped by the SAD-BJP government with an eye on the upcoming Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) elections. In a statement,Calcutta said it was ironic that the government was on one hand claiming that there was no threat of terrorism and on the other hand major operations were going,creating a “sense of fear” among the people. “The police have been regularly feeding the media about these concocted stories to scare the peace loving people of Punjab. The keen observers of political developments are convinced that those are aimed at the ensuing SGPC elections,” he said.