BJP maintains ‘strategic silence’
A resolution, urging the Punjab Government to take up the issue of creating a separate body to manage Sikh affairs in Haryana with the Centre, was passed by the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Thursday with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) maintaining a “strategic silence”.
The development is interpreted as the saffron party’s attempt to distance itself from the contentious issue.
Holding reigns in Punjab with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) as its coalition partner, the party can hardly do anything to displease its ally. At the same time, the party, on the face of it, is finding it tough to comment on the issue with elections round the corner in Haryana.
The resolution was passed without BJP MlA Som Parkash being heard on the issue. He, however, later complained that the resolution was passed without allowing him to speak though his name was mentioned in the list of speakers on the issue.
In all, the resolution was passed by voice vote, after more than two-hour-long discussion, against setting up of a separate body in Haryana for managing the Sikh shrines in the state amid dissent from the main Opposition Congress that raised the issue to have All India Gurudwara Act.
The wordings of the resolution, at the same time, generated a controversy of sorts with Congress MlA Charanjit Singh Channi insisting the SAD-BJP has landed its feet in its mouth by resolving to the Centre “to restrain any State Government from interfering in the religious affairs or religious institutions of other States”.
The resolution was moved by Akali MlA Bibi Jagir Kaur, also the former Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president, who traced the history of 94-year-old SGPC.
She said that it was neither the issue of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda nor any other individual but a matter concerning entire Sikh community.
“Hooda had raised this issue in 2005, and SGPC had passed a unanimous resolution in its General House against setting up of separate body for the control and management of gurdwaras in Haryana, and sent it to the Centre,” said Bibi.
She added that the issue was again evoked by Haryana Congress leader Harmohinder Singh Chattha in 2009 who formed a committee under him and prepared the report, and did not present it then. And now, when the polls are approaching, he has released the report, passed the Bill, Act was formed.
She pointed that She recalled that in 2011 SGPC elections, the Sikh voters of Haryana had also rejected the move by voting against the contestants, who were seeking separate SGPC.
“Water, land, bridges can be divided but religious sentiments and religious places cannot be divided at any cost,” she said, while appealing to all Sikhs, cutting across party lines, to join hands against this move.
She questioned that when Haryana cannot create its separate capital city or High Court, what was the reason to establish a separate SGPC.
Participating in the discussion, SAD MlA Nirmal Singh Judge maintained that SGPC being an inter-state body, “Centre can issue direction and only then any amendment in the Act can be carried out”.
Quoting Acts, laws, Nirmal Singh pointed a notice issued by Chattha Committee that said that Act can be formed “only with the Centre’s concurrence”.
Cautioning the Haryana Government that it’s not easy to divide Sikhs, he urged the centre that it should not give any assent or concurrence to the “illegal” Act passed by the Haryana Assembly.
SAD MlA Virsa Singh Valtoha pointed that the Bill passed by Haryana Assembly is a “money bill” as it stated that the “guru’s golak is Government property and the Government will pay salaries of HSGPC employees”.
Congress MlA Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa opposed the resolution while finding “faults” in SGPC’s working, which he accused of “failing to manage Sikh shrines properly”. He quoted the examples of foreign countries, where gurdwaras were in much better State.
Intervening, Deputy Chief Minister and SAD president Sukhbir Badal said that ths issue was not about strength but about one authority of the Sikh community. “It is very strange that we are making serious issue a laughing stock by politicising it. There is a limit to politics,” he said.
Making a fervent appeal to the Opposition benches to not play politics over the issue, Sukhbir said that the matter concerns the Sikh community and not SAD or Congress alone.
“If we allow this to happen, it seems your next move will be to form separate SGPCs for Malwa, Majha, Doaba and then district wise,” he quipped.
Sukhbir recalled that when the Haryana government had made a similar bid, he, along with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had met then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who had assured us that he would not allow it to happen during his rule as his own forefathers had made sacrifices for the establishment of SGPC.
Congress MlA Ajit Inder Singh Mofar asked the SAD-BJP combine to urge “its” Central Government to form a common act to manage all Sikh shrines only then all Sikhs will be together.
The All India Sikh Gurdwaras Bill was first introduced in the Parliament as a private member bill in 1958, and later in 1964 and both time, it was allowed to lapse. later, SGPC in 1977 formed an Advisory Committee under Justice Harbans Singh to draft an All India Sikh Gurdwaras Act, and the demand for the same was included in the Anandpur Sahib Resolution of SAD in 1978.
In 1979, SGPC sent the draft All India Gurdwaras Act to Central Government, that remained pending. Three years later, the demand for the Act formed a part of SAD and SGPC’s Dharam Yudh Morcha.
The creation of this Act was made a part of Rajiv-longowal Accord in 1985, and in 2002, the draft of an All India Gurdwaras Act was revised by Justice KS Tiwana, that is also lying pending with the Centre.
Cong Sikh MlAs oppose Akal Takht’s decision
A day after the Sikh’s highest temporal seat — Akal Takht — excommunicated Haryana Minister and two Haryana Sikh leaders, Congress’ Sikh MlAs opposed the move.
legislators, including Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa, and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, maintained that the way Akal Takht has given its decision to excommunicate the three leaders show that it acted “under political pressure”.
“Usually Akal Takht summons the person, hears him, and then gives its decision. But here, everything was done in a hurry,” Bajwa told The Pioneer.
They have also challenged Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to better challenge the Haryana Government’s move, which he termed as illegal, and unconstitutional, in the Supreme Court.
DSGMC to protest today
Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) will stage a protest outside Congress national president Sonia Gandhi's residence, 10 Janpath, against the “illegal foundation of Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee” by the Congress-led Haryana Government.