Patiala: The Patiala district administration on Friday morning successfully brought down activist Gurjeet Singh Khalsa from an approximately 287-foot high telecom tower in Samana, bringing an end to a protest that had lasted around 18 months and 12 days.
The rescue operation was conducted under the supervision of Patiala deputy commissioner Himanshu Aggarwal, with support from the district administration, police, Punjab fire services, and technical assistance from the Indian Army. The rescue was led on the ground by assistant divisional fire officer (ADFO) Harinderpal Singh along with his ten-member team. A Turn Table Ladder (TTL), requisitioned from the Municipal Corporation Ludhiana, was deployed for the operation.
Gurjeet Singh Khalsa, a 43-year-old dairy owner and farmer from Kheri Nagaian village, had climbed the 400-feet-tall tower of a cellular company in Samana on October 12, 2024, demanding a strict law against sacrilege of Sikh religious objects and beliefs. He acted after a sacrilege incident inside a Gurdwara in Jalandhar. "After the 2015 Bargari sacrilege case, a number of cases were reported and in most of these cases, the accused were not brought to justice. I thought even if I lose my life, it wouldn't matter if that helps to put pressure on the government to enact stringent laws against sacrilege," Khalsa had said earlier.
During the protest, Khalsa stayed atop the tower in a makeshift tarpaulin shelter, with two caretakers bringing food and water once a day. In the absence of physical activity, his blood pressure and sugar levels fluctuated at times. During this agitation, he claimed to have countered several ailments, including high blood pressure and diabetes.
Khalsa agreed to come down after Punjab governor Gulab Chand Kataria gave his nod to the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Bill, 2026, and the law was enacted. Aggarwal said that following the implementation of the "Jagat Jyot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act, 2026" by the Punjab government, the Tower Morcha Samana approached the administration to facilitate the safe rescue of Khalsa.
After he was brought down, a medical team led by SMO Dr. Nandini Sharma conducted a health check-up and provided medical assistance. The successful rescue marked the end of a prolonged protest that had drawn significant attention to the issue of sacrilege in Punjab.
