Chandigarh: Security was tightened in Punjab's Jalandhar district after four schools received bomb threat emails on Saturday, a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to Jalandhar to visit Dera Sachkhand Ballan on the occasion of 649th birth anniversary of Guru Ravidas.
PM’s Schedule in Punjab
According to information, the Prime minister who is scheduled to arrive at Jalandhar's Adampur airport at 3.45 pm on Sunday, will also officially rename the airport as Sri Guru Ravidas Ji airport, Adampur and virtually inaugurate a new terminal building at Halwara airport of adjoining district Ludhiana.
Meanwhile, even though the bomb threat emails were sent to Jalandhar schools, one of the emails pointedly mentioned a threat to Dera Ballan saying ``Full respect for Guru Ravidas Ji, but Modi is the enemy. We have no issues with Sant Niranjan Dass, but with Modi’’.
Notably all schools in Jalandhar are closed on Sunday on the occasion of Guru Ravidas jayanti.
No-Flying Zone Declared
The district administration said that all the precautionary exigency steps had been taken and anti-sabotage teams searched the schools and the surrounding areas but no suspicious object or activity was detected during the search operations.
The administration has also declared the district a no-flying zone for the duration of the PM’s movement and ordered grounding of all civil aviation and drone activities on Sunday.
Significance Of DERAA
Pertinently, Modi’s Sunday visit holds a significant social and political importance in Doaba region (Jalandhar and adjoining districts) of Punjab – the heartland of Dalit politics. Punjab has the highest Dalit population in India with 32% while Doaba region has about 45% Dalit population. Dera Sachkhand Ballan is an significant spiritual seat for Ravidassia community which majorly influences voters in over 19 of the 23 assembly segments in the Doaba region.
It may be recalled that the Union government had also recently conferred the Padma Shri upon the Dera Ballan head Sant Niranjan Dass signalling a significant outreach to the community ahead of the 2027 assembly polls.
