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Need to strengthen political party of Sikhs in Punjab: Akal Takht jathedar
Says this at an event to mark anniversary of 1955 police action against Akalis at Golden Temple during Punjabi Suba movement
Akal Takht acting jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh on Sunday said there was the need to strengthen the political party of Sikhs in Punjab and that members of the community were not ready to accept their political party as theirs.
Without naming the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which is traditionally seen as a panthic outfit with its roots in the Gurdwara Reform Movement, the jathedar said, “The rulers are averse to any political talk by the Akal Takht. Besides, a section of Sikhs also opposes any kind of political talk by the jathedar. They must have a political party. We need to introspect.”
He said this while addressing a gathering at a function organised by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to mark the anniversary of the 1955 police action at the the Golden Temple to contain the Akali Dal activists during the Punjabi Suba Movement.
SGPC president Jagir Kaur said, “A large number of them laid their lives during the independence struggle. But the deployment of police force at their central shrine just after 8 years of independence was a manifestation of anti-Sikh mentality of the then Congress government.”
She announced that a collection of photographs and other material will be compiled on the 1955 action. “Efforts will be made to preserve memory by searching for the eyewitnesses at the time,” she added.
Photographs of the use of tear gas bombs by the police to disperse the Akalis in the shrine complex were also displayed from the stage.
Radical Sikh organisations like Awaj-E-Quam, Sikh Youth Federation Bhindranwala, Jatha Sirlath Khalsa and Satkar Committee took out a march from Gurdwara Santokhsar Sahib to the Golden Temple on the occasion.
