The Sehajdhari Sikh Party (SSP) is working out modalities for challenging the amendment carried in the Sikh Gurdwara Act with retrospective effect. The development is significant as a case on the issue of voting rights of Sehajdhari Sikhs is pending before the Supreme Court and retrospective implementation of the amendment will have a bearing on it.
Responding to the approval of Sikh Gurdwara (Amendment) Bill, 2016, Paramjeet Singh Ranu, President of the SSP said they would challenge the retrospective implementation of the amendment.
He said that it was unfortunate that the Rajya Sabha and lok Sabha had given their assent to a bill brought to create a divide on religious terms. The matter of voting rights is still pending in the Supreme Court, and they would be waiting for the final outcome of the case, added Ranu.
While on one hand, the Sehajdhari Party is trying to give another legal stretch to the ongoing legal battle on voting rights, the demands of fresh SGPC elections have started cropping up.
Apparently having gained stronger hold on Panthic issues after the successful organisation of Sarbat Khalsa in November last year, SAD (Mann) has raised a demand for fresh elections of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC).
The speculations are strong that the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal too is firming up for fresh elections and some of the leaders of the SAD were pushing for SGPC elections before the Assembly polls in the State.
The last SGPC elections were held in 2011 and the term of the elected committee is scheduled to get over in September, 2016. Though the elected executive body did not assume the office of the committee, as the matter of voting rights for Sehajdhari Sikhs had reached Supreme Court, yet the chances of the defunct executive committee, taking charge for the rest of the term seem quite bleak as around one-third of the members elected in the 2011 would not be able to continue.
Around 30 elected members had resigned in the wake of incidents of sacrilege in the end of 2015. Around half a dozen elected members have passed away during past four years. In such circumstances, reviving the defunct executive committee will be possible only if the by-poll is conducted on all the vacant seats.
It is learnt that the Shiromani Akali Dal is looking into the pros and cons of holding the SGPC election, although the Secretary of the Party Daljeet Singh Cheema said that the party would like Supreme Court to revive the executive committee elected in 2011.
A member of the SGPC said that after the exclusion of Sehajdhari Sikhs, it won’t be a big challenge for the government to secure a win in the SGPC elections, and a win in SGPC will give the ruling party a big boost for the upcoming Assembly elections.
The fresh elections of SGPC are being seen as a counter to the rising graph of rival parties of SAD on the religious front. As the Sikh groups have once again given a call for Sarbat Khalsa on November 10, a victory in SGPC may prove quite handy for the SAD to tackle the dispute related to the Jathedars of Akal Takht.
SGPC member Amarinder Singh said that decision of debarring Sehajdhari Sikhs from voting was very good for bringing positive change in the management of Sikh religious places and it will show its impact on the political scene of the state also. Thus, whether the old committee is revived or the fresh elections are ordered, any decision of the Supreme Court will be welcomed.