What is behind the push by Sikh bodies to ensure that kirtan, or the singing of Gurbani, is only accompanied by traditional instruments, and why is the harmonium at the receiving end?
Every day, 15 ragi jathas, or groups of hymn singers, are deployed in turns to perform at Harmandir Sahib for 20 hours in one of the mainly 31 raags that are chosen depending on the time of day and season.
In a letter to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, he requested him to defend the related petitions in the High Court and to proceed with the ongoing trial at Faridkot Sessions Court.
Sidhu's political career has been choppy to say the least, having landed in Amritsar on a BJP ticket in 2004 amid taunts of being an outsider by Opposition parties.
The AAP MLA went on to allege that the victims of the incident had told him that the officer assigned by the police to probe the case was close to the mafia.
Babbar Khalsa, which had been banned under the anti-terror Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, is the oldest and most organised Sikh militant outfit since India's Independence.
Also, sitting with the Shiromani Akali Dal chief as part of the nine-member panel formed by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee will be his arch rival and Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi) president Paramjit Singh Sarna.
The SAD (Amritsar) chief and Khalistan proponent recently equated the resolution with his party’s demand for a separate Sikh homeland. But he did not mention the differing contexts.
Police say that unlike in the past, most of the recent arrests have been of people with no strong ideological affinity to the Khalistani cause. The accused are usually from poor backgrounds and are mostly paid by their handlers to work as couriers.
The police had last year asked the Centre to contact the international organisation against Canada-based Lakhbir Singh Landa in the wake of a double murder case in Tarn Taran district.
Amid a shake up in Punjab politics, the significant development took shape after Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh recently asked the SGPC to call a meeting of Sikh bodies on the issue.
Originally from Khankot village on the outskirts of Amritsar, Pannu is a law graduate from Panjab University. One of the three children of Mahinder Singh, a former employee with the Punjab State Agricultural Marketing Board, Pannu is now an attorney at law in the US.
Jaggi Johal was arrested on November 4, 2017 from Jalandhar by the Punjab Police for his alleged role in targeted killings reported from April, 2016 to October, 2017, including the murder of RSS leader Brigadier Jagdish Gagneja (Retd).
Monday's attack at the Punjab Police Intelligence headquarters bears similarities to the attack on cops at Nawanshahr, the grenade attack near the Army cantonment in Pathankot and the attack on a police post in Ropar.
While there has not been much action on part of government, one change that has been noticed is that people have become vocal against drug peddlers. In the recent past, there have been several instances when people caught alleged drug peddlers and handed them over to police.
Asked about the decision to vacate the building, Baldev Singh sent The Indian Express, a general letter of Punjab government to all departments in which they were asked to shift government offices running in the private buildings to the official buildings to save the rent amount.
After district officials of Gurdaspur failed to turn up for a meeting he had called as the Congress MLA for Qadian, Partap Singh Bajwa has requested Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan to refer the matter to the Assembly’s privilege committee.
The accused were identified as Pardeep Kumar Jazzy, who was seen in the video selling drugs, and Shivam, Ravi, Deepak, Baljeet Singh, Hira Singh, and Amritpal Singh Jinda, all residents of Faridkot.
In the interview, Parwana said, “It is a common practice that police keep Sikh leaders under house arrest in view of Operation Blue Star anniversary on June 6. Police could have done the same with the Shiv Sena leaders to avoid trouble.”
While it is yet not clear who led the group that reached the spot outside the temple where the clash took place, a Sena leader claimed that they had planned the march to counter the alleged announcement by the outlawed overseas group 'Sikhs for Justice' to mark the ‘foundation day of Khalistan' on April 29.