Even as the Haryana Assembly passed a Bill for the creation of a separate body to manage the affairs of the Sikh shrines in the State, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Friday tried to offset the move by setting up a 'separate sub-committee' to look after the Gurdwaras in Haryana.
Announcing the separate sub-committee, SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar said this would manage the day-to-day functioning of the Sikh gurdwaras in Haryana.
Maintaining that the sub-committee will function under the Amritsar-based SGPC, Makkar said that it "will have an elected vice-president from the 11 members representing Haryana". The sub-committee will also have an additional secretary, and would function from a separate office to be set up in Kurukshetra.
The Amritsar-based SGPC, known as the Sikhs' mini-parliament, along with the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab, and the Sikhs' highest temporal seat - Akal Takht - had left no stone unturned to scuttle the Congress Government's move to create a separate SGPC for Haryana.
Makkar claimed that the Haryana government's move to bring a Bill for a separate SGPC could not come into force till the completion of all legal processes.
legal experts say that the nod of the President would be essential before an Act for a separate SGPC for Haryana could come into force.
Coming down heavily on the Congress for trying to create a separate SGPC for Haryana, Makkar said that it was trying "to create division among Sikhs", and appealed to the Sikh community in Haryana not to "toe" the line of the Congress and maintain unity in the community.
Makkar also blamed the Congress party for demeaning and challenging the authority of Akal Takht.
Makkar, cautioning Haryana Chief Minister to desist from going ahead with a separate SGPC for "vested political interests", sought the cooperation from the Sikhs in Haryana to join hands to strengthen the Amritsar-based SGPC. He also called for further fortifying the sub-committee enhancing unity and brotherhood amidst the Sikh community.
The annual income from at least 25 big Sikh shrines in Haryana is to the tune of Rs 30 crore.
Sukhbir says it is anti-Sikh conspiracy
Amristar: Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Friday said the Haryana government's decision to form a separate SGPC for the state would be a clear transgression upon the residual power of Parliament to make such a law.
He said the move to divide the Sikhs by creating a separate Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee had been initiated by the Gandhi family as its latest anti-Sikh conspiracy. "The Congress would not get through its nefarious design to weaken the Sikh community," Badal added.
Slamming the Congress government in Haryana for its proposal to constitute separate body for the management of Gurudwara affairs in the state, the Deputy Chief Minister said that this move was in accordance with the age-old policy of the Congress party of divide and rule.
He said that by initiating this step the Congress was again trying to divide the Sikh community, which would not be tolerated at any cost. Badal said that the SGPC was the supreme body of the Sikhs, which came into existence after countless sacrifices and none would be allowed to bifurcate it.
Unconstitutional and illegal, says Akali Dal
Chandigarh: The Shiromani Akali Dal on Friday termed the action of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda as unconstitutional, illegal, politically motivated and aimed at securing political gains.
Spokesman and secretary of the SAD and Punjab Education Minister Daljit Singh Cheema said the timing of the bill speaks of the intention of the Haryana Government. He said that this Bill cannot be given the sanction by the President of India. Hooda had been delaying it for the last ten years but now sensing debacle of the Congress in the coming Haryana Assembly polls, he was playing a political gimmick.
The Akali leader said Punjab Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa and other Congress leaders back-stabbed the Sikhs by being present at the Haryana Assembly during the process of passing the Bill for a separate SGPC for Haryana.