Ambala / Haryana_
A five-member delegation from the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) met Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini at his Chandigarh residence on Sunday, August 17, days after a confrontation between police and Sikh protesters left roughly nine officers injured, including DSP Virender Sharma, along with several demonstrators, on National Highway 44 near Ambala on August 13.
According to HSGMC senior vice-president Gurmeet Singh, the delegation pressed three demands: action against Gursimran Singh Mand, whom Sikh leaders hold responsible for provoking the confrontation; withdrawal of FIRs filed against members of the community; and the release of youths detained after the clash. The Chief Minister, Singh said, "assured that all efforts will be made to resolve the issue." Notably, HSGMC president Jagdish Singh Jhinda said he had no advance knowledge of the meeting, suggesting the delegation acted without full consensus from the committee's leadership — a sign of the strain the episode has placed on Sikh institutional unity in Haryana. Jhinda pointed instead to a peaceful congregation planned for August 25 as the community's preferred path forward.
The incident has stirred concern well beyond Ambala, with the Sangat in Punjab — including in Jagraon and across Ludhiana district — watching closely how the state responds to what many see as heavy-handed policing near a gurdwara. Retired police personnel and the families of injured officers have separately gathered in Ambala City to demand action against those who attacked police, underscoring how sharply opinion has divided over an incident that has become a flashpoint for wider questions about how Sikh religious gatherings are policed on Haryana's highways.
