Punjab cooperation and jails minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on Saturday said the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) defied the directive of the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs, by ignoring the coordination panel while inviting President Ram Nath Kovind for attending the function to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.
Kovind on Friday agreed to attend the function that will be held at Sultanpur Lodhi on November 12.
“We followed the directions of the Akal Takht acting jathedar who asked to constitute a coordination committee for joint celebrations of Guru’s birth anniversary. We attended the committee meeting. We were to get back to the SGPC after discussing the matter with chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh. But they did not wait for us and went to the President alone,” said Randhawa speaking to HT over phone.
“Not only that, they did not even take the fifth member Baba Nihal Singh Haryan Welan along. They have ignored the committee in violation of the Akal Takht’s violation,” he said.
“I discussed the issue with the CM during the cabinet meeting at Dera Baba Nanak on Thursday. But before we conveyed our view to the gurdwara body, they went to invite the President on their own,” he added.
Taking an exception to a tweet by Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal and his wife and Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal about the acceptance of the invitation by Kovind, Randhawa said Longowal must clarify whether the event is being organised by the gurdwara body or the Akali Dal.”
{{/usCountry}}Taking an exception to a tweet by Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal and his wife and Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal about the acceptance of the invitation by Kovind, Randhawa said Longowal must clarify whether the event is being organised by the gurdwara body or the Akali Dal.”
{{/usCountry}}‘DIDN’T RECEIVE ANY COMMUNICATION FROM GOVT’
SGPC chief Longowal said they have not received any communication from the state government so far after the September 17 meeting.
On some ministers objecting to their inviting the President he said, “First, the state government’s nominees did not attend two meetings of the coordination committee. In the September 17 meeting, the government nominees said they will inform us in a day or two after discussing the issue with the CM. But they chose not to respond.”