Demand for separate Sikh body not illegal: Bajwa

Punjab Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa on Tuesday dismissed the argument given by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Avtar Singh Makkar that the demand for a separate Haryana gurdwara management committee was illegal.

Punjab Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa on Tuesday dismissed the argument given by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Avtar Singh Makkar that the demand for a separate Haryana gurdwara management committee was illegal.

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In a statement, Bajwa told Makkar to read Section 72 of the Punjab Re-organisation Act, 1966, under which Haryana had been created to meet the Akali Dal demand of a Punjabi-speaking state.

The PPCC chief reminded Makkar that neither the Shiromani Akali Dal nor the SGPC had objected when 30 seats in the general House of the SGPC were reserved for women by creating double seats through an executive order, whereas the resolution for this purpose should first have been adopted by the general House of this body and the recommendation sent to the Centre for implementation in accordance with provisions of the Master Tara Singh-Nehru Pact.

He said the demand for a separate gurdwara body had been made by Sikhs in Haryana and it had nothing to do with the Congress. This demand stemmed from the discrimination meted out to the community members in neighbouring states who had developed the perception that they were being discriminated against by way of not being given an adequate role in the management of shrines in that state(s), he added.