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SGPC holds protest march demanding HSGM Act cancellation
SGPC chief said government is silent over RSS chief’s remark, calling every Indian Hindu. He said governments should give importance to every community especially minorities.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Tuesday carried out a protest march from Sri Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) to the office of Deputy Commissioner, Amritsar seeking cancellation of Haryana Sikh Gurdwara (Management) Act 2014. Its functionaries also targeted the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) during the march.
The SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami who led the March, submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner Harpreet Singh Sudan in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Demanding cancellation of the Act that has recently been validated by the Supreme Court and forms separate Gurdwara committee for the historic gurdwaras in Haryana, the SGPC termed it as the “interference of anti-Sikh forces” in Sikh affairs.
Several office-bearers, members and employees of SGPC, participared in the march, wearing black turbans. They wera also holding black flags and placards carrying slogans expressing Panthic resentment. Placards that read “separate committee for Haryana gurdwaras is a conspiracy hatched by the governments at the behest of the RSS”, were also seen in the hands of the SGPC functionaries.
Amid resonance of Sikh slogans, when the protest march reached the office of DC, the SGPC President refused to hand over a memorandum letter to ADC, due to absence of DC and called for staging the demonstration until DC himself comes and accepts the document. After this, all members led by SGPC President Dhami sat in protest and started chanting “Satnam Waheguru”. This protest continued for about 2 hours, after which DC, Amritsar Harpreet Singh Sudan turned up there and received the memorandum from the SGPC President.
While addressing the protesters, Dhami said there is huge resentment in the Sikh community, due to recognition of separate Gurdwara Act, 2014 for Haryana by the Supreme Court and this decision would break the SGPC, the representative body of Sikhs. He said the SGPC has been established after great struggle and sacrifices, while the governments and anti-Sikh forces are focused on breaking it. The Sikh panth is consciously struggling against these conspiracies and will not allow division of SGPC at any cost, he said.
The SGPC President said, “Under the Hindu Rashtra agenda of the RSS, its head Mohan Bhagwat is calling every resident of India as Hindu, but the governments are silent on this”. He said the governments should not be representative of any one ideology, but they should give importance to every community living in the country and especially the minorities. He said that the Congress has been trying to weaken the Sikh power since beginning, but now BJP is also following the same path and doing conspiracies to suppress minority Sikhs and the Aam Aadmi Party is also working in the same manner.
Dhami said the Sikh Path has sounded the bugle of struggle against efforts of breaking SGPC and under the next programme, Panthic protest marches will be carried out from three places on October 7. This protest march will start from Takht Kesgarh Sahib, Takht Damdama Sahib and Gurdwara Manji Sahib Ambala, and will reach Akal Takht, where prayer will be held for the success of struggle.
