SGPC no to separate wing in Haryana

With a warning to the Congress governments in Punjab and Haryana, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee’s (SGPC) special general ...

With a warning to the Congress governments in Punjab and Haryana, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee’s (SGPC) special general session today rejected the move to constitute a separate Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee in Haryana.

Out of the total 170 members, 154 were present at the meeting. Saying that the SGPC is the supreme body to manage gurdwara affairs, the house opined that a conspiracy was being hatched by Congress leaders and that they would stand against any interference with the present structure of the SGPC.

The meeting recalled the circumstances leading to the formation of the religious body in 1925 after numerous sacrifices. It appealed to the Sikh community in Haryana to identify nefarious political designs behind the move. ‘‘We feel it is a political gimmick,’’ said SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur, adding that they would demonstrate ‘‘Sikh Shakti’’ through agitations and morchas.

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At present, gurdwaras in Haryana are under the direct control of the SGPC; a demand for Haryana to have a separate bod1y on the lines of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara has been made. The Bibi said she would meet PM Manmohan Singh and Home Minister Shivraj Patil on June 7, besides holding a huge conference in Hisar. Though she did not name the Haryana CM, she trained guns at Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh, saying, ‘‘He is a man of double standards. It is his conspiracy.’’

State unit vows to form separate panel

SGPC executive member from Haryana, Didar Singh Nalwi, who claimed to have the support of seven other members, vowed to constitute a separate body in Haryana. ‘‘A separate Sikh body in Haryana already exists if the Re-organisation Act, 1966, is read in its true spirit. Only orders are to be implemented,’’ said Nalwi. — ENS