Renowned Gurbani exponent Bhai Baldev Singh Wadala, who was dismissed from the post of ‘Hazoori Ragi’ at Golden Temple for revolting against the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), was arrested by the Amritsar Police (rural) during wee hours on Wednesday and later released by the afternoon.
As per sources, in collaboration with other Sikh organisations, he had scheduled to carry out a march from Ludhiana to Amritsar in memory of those killed in Operation Bluestar in 1984 on Wednesday. Besides him, a number of other Sikh radicals were also reportedly detained by the police at different places of the state.
Wadala said the organiser of the march was someone else and the police had arrested him without any proof.
Wadala was going to Golden Temple from his house at around 3.00 am when the police had arrested him. They had also refused to reveal the location where he was detained to anyone, including his family members. He was released later at around 1.30 pm.
Wadala said it was a conspiracy of the ruling government to scare away all the political opponents ahead of the assembly polls.
Wadala came into limelight after he opposed the decisions of the SGPC despite being its employee. Particularly, along with his supporters, he opposed the appointment of Harcharan Singh as its chief secretary by staging a dharna outside Teja Singh Samundri Hall, headquarter of the apex gurdwara body. Following which, he was transferred from Golden Temple to a Sikh shrine in Haryana.
During the last Holla Mohalla festival, he had organised a rally at Sri Anandpur Sahib, parallel to the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and other parties, and announced to contest the SGPC elections to defeat the SAD. Taking action against him, the SGPC had dismissed him. He also formed an organisation named ‘Sikh Sadhbhawna Dal’.