Chief minister Bhagwant Mann has condemned Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami campaigning for SAD-BSP candidate for the upcoming Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll. In a tweet, Mann said, “Is it right for the SGPC president to campaign in favour candidate of a political party, who is accused of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib? Isn’t it playing with religious sentiments of the people?”
Mann in his tweet was apparently referring to the incidents related to the theft of a ‘bir’ (copy) of the Guru Granth Sahib, putting up handwritten sacrilegious posters, and torn pages of the holy book being found scattered in Bargari village of Faridkot during the SAD-BJP rule in the state in 2015.
The bypoll is scheduled to be held on May 10 and counting of votes will take place on May 13. Mann asked how far it was justified that Harjinder Singh Dhami, the president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, an apex gurdwara body, campaigned for the SAD. Dhami, along with the Shiromani Akali Dal leaders and Bahujan Samaj Party leaders, campaigned in favour of their candidate Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi in Adampur in Jalandhar. The bypoll was necessitated due to the death of Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary in January.
Meanwhile, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami in a statement reacted strongly to Mann’s statement. “Shri Bhagwant Singh Mann, you have no right to talk about the matters of beadi (sacrilege) of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Chief Minister, how can you exonerate yourself from recent Morinda sacrilege incident? Many more sacrilege incidents took place during your government. These incidents hurt every Sikh, they should not take place. But playing politics on sacrilege is also a crime. It is the constitutional right of everyone to campaign for their party, which the chief minister of Delhi is also using by coming here. Shri Bhagwant Singh Mann, you should think about the concerns, rights and interests of Punjab, from which you are turning your back,” said Dhami.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami in a statement reacted strongly to Mann’s statement. “Shri Bhagwant Singh Mann, you have no right to talk about the matters of beadi (sacrilege) of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Chief Minister, how can you exonerate yourself from recent Morinda sacrilege incident? Many more sacrilege incidents took place during your government. These incidents hurt every Sikh, they should not take place. But playing politics on sacrilege is also a crime. It is the constitutional right of everyone to campaign for their party, which the chief minister of Delhi is also using by coming here. Shri Bhagwant Singh Mann, you should think about the concerns, rights and interests of Punjab, from which you are turning your back,” said Dhami.
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