The additional and district sessions court of Jalandhar on Wednesday denied anticipatory bail to Punjabi singer Gurdas Maan in a case of hurting religious sentiments.
Mann had approached the court on September 1 and sought anticipatory bail.
A posse of police personnel remained posted in the court complex as Sikh organisations have been threatening Maan since he made the statement on August 24, hurting religious sentiments. A video of his statement is being widely shared on social media.
Apology for remark on social media
Maan had put up the video on social media, offering an apology for his statement made during the annual mela at Dera Murad Shah in Nakodar.
“Gurus should never be compared with anyone, and I can never even think about insulting the great gurus. If my words have hurt anyone’s sentiments, I apologise to them 100 times,” Maan, who is also the chairman of Dera Murad Shah, said in this video.
Sikh organisations, including members of the Satkar Committee, had lodged a police complaint and sought a case against Maan. Members of these organisations had also staged an indefinite protest against Jalandhar police opposite the SSP office.
Sikh protesters up the ante
On August 26, Sikh protesters upped the ante and gathered at the Rama Mandi Chowk on the Jalandhar-Ludhiana national highway and blocking traffic. It was then that the police lodged the FIR and got the protesters to clear the highway.
Maan was booked under Sections 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code at Nakodar city police station in the district.
Maan had also courted controversy in 2019 after he supported the idea of ‘One Nation, One Language’ for the country in a radio talk-show in Canada and faced protests from a section of Punjabi community, during his live show in Canada.
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