The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) asked Punjab Chief Minister  Bhawant Mann to avoid any unwanted meetings with his counterpart on the issue of affiliation of Haryana colleges with Punjab University,  adding this was being done to further weaken the Punjab’s hold over Chandigarh.

The spokesperson of the SAD, Daljit Singh Cheema said CM Mann should keep away from all the meetings related to change the character of Punjab University instead he should have registered a strong protest with the Punjab governor on this issue.  He was raising the party’s concern on Haryana’s demand that its colleges be affiliated with Punjab University, which was discussed during a meeting called by the governor recently and another meeting scheduled to be held on June 5 to discuss the issue forward.

Cheema also said that after the voluntary disaffiliation of Haryana’s colleges from the Punjab University in 1978, restrict any stake in PU. It even stopped funding the University subsequently, now it seems an effort is made to gain control over the democratically elected institutions which govern the University (Senate and Syndicate) by affiliating colleges from Haryana to the Punjab University.

He said there is a conspiracy behind it, Haryana wants to have a control over Chandigarh by building its separate Vidhan Sabha as there was a recent demand to secure land for the State. Haryana as part of conspiracy also wants to eliminate Punjabi as a compulsory language throughout graduation in Punjab University.

The 60:40 ratios in posting of Punjab and Haryana officers in Chandigarh are not being followed. Haryana CM M L Khattar while seeking affiliation for Haryana colleges with PU in June 1 meeting said that the Punjab Reorganization Act, 1966, the share of Haryana was given to Punjab University and the colleges and regional center of Haryana were affiliated to PU. However it was abolished by the issue of a notification in 1973.

An armed mob reportedly vandalized a mosque and thrashed people offering Namaz (prayers) inside the premises in a village of Sonipat district of Haryana on Sunday.

According to reports, tensions were high in Sonipat’s Sandal Kalan village after a mob of 20 people, armed with lathis (sticks), stormed a mosque, vandalized the place and thrashed worshippers there on Sunday.

They said that 15-20 attackers, who were locals belonging to the same village, allegedly attacked a small mosque in the area when some people were offering Ramadan prayers on Sunday evening.

Police said that an FIR has been registered against 19 people in connection with the incident and 16 people have been detained the “unprovoked” attack and are being questioned.

As per reports, at least nine people, identified as— Istaeq Ali, Alamir, Sabir Ali, Faryad, Ansar Ali, Julekha, Ali Taab, Nargis, and Jarina—were injured in the attack and have been admitted to Sonipat Civil Hospital for medical treatment.

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A senior police official said that they received information during the night that some anti-social elements had entered barged into the mosque and beat up worshippers offering prayers in the premises.

Sonipat Police Commissioner B Satheesh Balan said that additional police force was deployed after the incident to maintain communal harmony and the situation in village has returned to normal now.

The senior officer said the attack was “unprovoked” as no previous incident in the village was reported which could’ve caused disharmony between communities.

Visuals of the alleged attackers roaming the streets of the village with lathis in their hands have surfaced on social media.

Reports quoting locals said some young men from the village entered the mosque and asked the worshipers inside to stop praying. The men later vandalized the place, they said, adding that some children were also inside the mosque when the alleged attack took place.

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The family of a man in Haryana has alleged that their son was beaten to death by cow vigilantes in Nuh district, however, the police has said the victim died in a road mishap.

According to the FIR lodged by the police, the victim, identified as 22-year-old Varis, was killed when a Santro car he was travelling in along with two others, Shokeen and Nafis, crashed into a tempo near Khori Kalan village on Tauru-Bhiwadi road on early Saturday morning at 5 am.

They said a cow was also found in the vehicle, adding that both vehicles were heavily damaged in the crash.

The three men, as well as the tempo driver, sustained injuries in the accident. Varis later succumbed.

An FIR was filed after a complaint filed by the tempo driver Abdul Karim and the three youths have also been booked under section 11 (prevention of cruelty of animal act) and section 13 (2) of the Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan act 2014 at Tauru Sadar police station on Saturday.

A previous case of cow slaughter was found against one of the accused, Nafis. However, the victim’s family has disputed the police version and filed another complaint wherein they’ve alleged that Bajrang Dal activists arrived at the scene and viciously thrashed Varis who later succumbed to injuries.

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Reports quoting sources said that the victim’s post-mortem revealed that death was caused by internal bleeding in the abdominal cavity due to rupture of the liver triggered by a blunt force injury.

Varis’s brother Imran filed a complaint on Sunday. He said that his brother was a car mechanic and maintained that the deceased was never involved in cattle smuggling.

In his complaint, Imran said that when the incident took place, Varis was returning from Bhiwandi on Saturday night where he’d gone to inspect a second-hand vehicle for his two associates.

Other family members of the victim claimed that the cow vigilantes also allegedly released a video showing them torturing the three men in the vehicle.

A cow vigilante and Bajrang Dal member, Monu Manesar said they received information about a cow being smuggled, reached the spot and rescued the bovine. He said they went on Facebook Live to expose cow smugglers and asked one of the injured to say his name and claimed that the he or other vigilantes did not hurt any of the occupants of the car.

Manesar also claimed to have taken the injured to the hospital.

Police said the family’s allegations are being investigated.

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