Chandigarh: The tenure of the assembly’s select committee, chaired by AAP MLA Inderbir Singh Nijjar, tasked with examining the broader Punjab Prevention of Offences Against Holy Scriptures Bill, has been extended by six months. The panel has also been tasked to look into the 1986 Nakodar firing incident.Nijjar moved a resolution seeking six more months, which was accepted. He informed the House that the panel was set up in July 2025, but it could not submit its report on an assessment of the Bill by taking feedback from various stakeholders. Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan informed the House that the select committee was also tasked to inquire into the Nakodar killing case. Meanwhile, opposition MLAs demanded that the report of the committee be presented before the house as it was related to the anti-sacrilege Bill being discussed and it had already taken feedback from various religious organisations. CM Bhagwant Mann said the committee would soon submit its report on similar cases involving other religious texts and would also examine the 1986 Nakodar firing incident. This committee was formed to study a more expansive bill that covers the sacrilege of multiple holy books (including the Bhagavad Gita, Quran and Bible) and provides for life imprisonment. Earlier, finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema said, “On Feb 4, 1986, in Nakodar, the police allegedly opened fire on Sikh youths who were peacefully protesting the burning of five saroops of Guru Granth Sahib at Sri Guru Arjan Dev Gurdwara Sahib. Four youths lost their lives in this police firing. Following the incident, the Justice Gurnam Singh Commission was formed. While the first part of the report was submitted, the second part mysteriously vanished.“
