Sukhbir leads Khalsa March to oppose Haryana gurdwara committee

March from Takht Damdama Sahib and Takht Keshgarh Sahib being organised to push Centre to file review petition or pass new law to do away with the validation of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Committee Act, 2014, by the Supreme Court recently

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal led the Khalsa March, organised by the by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), from Talwandi Sabo on Friday. The march is being organised to push the Centre to file a review petition or pass a new law to do away with the validation of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Committee Act, 2014 by the Supreme Court, recently.

Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal leading the Khalsa March from Takht Damdama Sahib in Talwandi Sabo to Amritsar on Friday. (Sanjeev Kumar/HT)

Accompanied by senior Akali leaders, including former MLAs Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu and Kanwarjit Singh Rozy Barkandi, Sukhbir paid obeisance at the historic Takht Damdama Sahib before heading out on a jeep. Scores joined the march to culminate in Amritsar in the evening after crossing assembly segments en route.

The SAD chief told reporters that the Sikh sangat (community) would unitedly defeat the conspiracy to weaken its institutions and divide its strength. He said the march expresses a rejection to interference into the religious affairs of Sikhs.

He charged the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the BJP with working against tenets of Sikhism. “The formation of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) is a direct attack on the Sikhs and the community feels hurt. The three political parties have shown their slant against established religious practices and institutions,” said Sukhbir, who is also the Ferozepur Lok Sabha MP.