(AMRITSAR) Hitting out strongly at the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leadership, Akal Takht acting jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh on Monday said that if the party wants to protect its existence, it must shun lust for power and work towards spreading Sikh principles.
The jathedar made the comments in the presence of SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal and other senior leaders of the party, including Prem Singh Chandumajra, Dr. Daljit Singh Cheema and Bibi Jagir Kaur.
He was speaking during a function organised by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to mark the centenary of Morcha Guru Ka Bagh, which is an important chapter of Gurdwara Reforms Movement and Indian freedom struggle, at historic Guru Ka Bagh gurdwara at Ghukewali village near here.
“I would like to ask the Akali leaders sitting on the stage that if the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) wants to protect its existence, it must shun lust for power and concentrate their mind on the spread of Sikh faith,” the jathedar said.
He said that the Akalis must roam in villages tirelessly to spread the Sikh principles instead of working with an aim to form a government.
{{/usCountry}}He said that the Akalis must roam in villages tirelessly to spread the Sikh principles instead of working with an aim to form a government.
{{/usCountry}}“The Union government has degraded the states by curtailing their powers and reducing them as Municipalities. I don’t say that they should not contest assembly or parliamentary polls. I say that they should not make achieving power as their sole motive,” he said.
The jathedar said that the Akalis must promote panthic values and traditions to win back the support of the Sikhs worldwide.
During the event, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami said, “the apex gurdwara body is being solely blamed for conversion of the Sikhs to Christianity. There is a deep-rooted conspiracy behind it and some of our Sikh leaders, who used to get positions in the SAD once, are turning out to be tools of this conspiracy.”
Targeting DSGMC and newly formed Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi) president Harmeet Singh Kalka for initiating activities in Punjab in the name of dharam parchar, he said, “the RSS is floating its platform in Punjab indirectly to contest upcoming general elections of the SGPC.”
Listing the contributions of the SAD, Badal appealed the sangat to save it from degeneration by identifying forces and traitors of Panth, which are trying to weaken SAD and SGPC.