Lukewarm response to 'Punjab Bandh'

The 'Punjab Bandh' called by various Sikh outfits to extend support to Sikh activist Gurbaksh Singh Khalsa, who is on an indefinite fast demanding release of prisoners from jails lodged in different states, evoked lukewarm response.
The impact of bandh was felt only in Amritsar while normal life in other parts of the state remained unaffected.
A few shops remained closed in Amritsar where some Sikh outfits took out a march.
In Phagwara, the bandh failed to evoke any response as all business establishments, markets, shops, educational institutions functioned normally.
State transport and other vehicles plied normally in Phagwara city.

Sikh outfit group Damdami Taksal led by Amrik Singh and other Sikh outfits including United Akali Dal led by Mohkam Singh, Sikh Youth Federation, Sikh Youth Front, Shri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Committee, among others were supporting the bandh.

Khalsa, who has been on a fast since almost two months at a Gurdwara in Ambala, has been seeking the release of seven Sikh prisoners including those convicted for the assassination of former Chief Minister of Punjab Beant Singh in 1995 and one in bomb blast in New Delhi in September 1993, in which nine persons were killed and 25 others, including M S Bitta, injured.

Notably, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has sought "premature release" of 13 "life convicts", five of them jailed in Beant Singh assassination case and one in 1993 New Delhi bomb blast case.
Heavy police force was deployed in Amritsar and other towns of the state as a precautionary measure, officials said.