Chandigarh: Different Sikh leaders met here today and expressed their willingness to participate in the “movement” to defeat Congress-led Haryana government's “conspiracy to divide and weaken” the community.
The meeting was organised against the backdrop of Haryana government notifying the Haryana Sikh Gurdwaras (Management) Bill, 2014, passed by the state Assembly, despite protests from the Sikh community and directions from the Centre.
Addressing the gathering here, Punjab Chief Minister and SAD patron, Parkash Singh Badal made it clear that the Sikh community would never tolerate any interference in its religious affairs.
“The Akal Takht is supreme for us. Sikhs worldwide obey it. Even Maharaja Ranjit Singh had to appear before it as a humble Sikh when summoned. It is intolerable for us if anybody tries to challenge the authority of the Akal Takth,” he said.
The Chief Minister maintained that the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) did not belong to Punjab, Haryana or India.
“It is the representative body of Sikhs worldwide. Whenever any Sikh faces a problem the world over it is the SGPC which comes to his rescue. Nobody, least of all the Haryana government can decide to divide the SGPC,” he said.
Badal alleged that it was the Gandhi family which was behind the Haryana government's decision to form a separate body and said that the Sikh community was ready to battle with the Congress.
Making it clear that the congregation at Amritsar on July 27 would give its final approval for the “morcha” (movement) to be launched to “correct the historic wrong” committed by the Haryana government, the Chief Minister said the Haryana government would be responsible for the consequences.
He, however, appealed to the people to maintain peace and communal harmony at all costs.
Earlier Deputy Chief Minister and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal explained how it was the Congress which had “infiltrated” the Sikh community with its “agents”.
The SAD president also warned Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and those supporting him that the Sikh community was ready for a struggle on this issue and would not let the SGPC be divided at any cost.
Amritsar-based SGPC President Avtar Singh Makkar said the SGPC had been established after countless sacrifices and that the community would unitedly defeat efforts to divide it by Congress agents.
Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president Manjit Singh G K while speaking on the occasion said the Sikh community had never accepted anyone interfering in its internal matters and would never tolerate this now.
Sikhs leaders from the different parts of the country addressed the gathering.
