Joint event row: SGPC calls meeting again, gives Punjab govt chance to send nominees

Amid row between SGPC and Punjab government over joint celebrations of 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the former has called another meeting of the proposed coordination committee on September 17 to give the government another chance to send its nominees.

Amid row between SGPC and Punjab government over joint celebrations of 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the former has called another meeting of the proposed coordination committee on September 17 to give the government another chance to send its nominees.

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This will be third occasion when SGPC schedules a meeting of the committee. The last two meetings, scheduled on August 14 and September 6 at its headquarter Teja Singh Samundri Hall, was not attended by any government representative.

Sources said the meeting has been scheduled again on the advice of Akal Takht acting jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh after Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh stated that they have deputed two ministers to be part of the committee.

The CM held a cabinet meeting at Sultanpur Lodhi, the centre of the celebrations, to discuss the events. Two days after the meeting, SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal said, “Sorry to say that the chief minister is trying to limit the jurisdiction of the SGPC by stating it can only organise the event only within the premises of the gurdwara. Neither does he understand the sangat’s sentiments, nor is he obeying directives of Akal Takht. A joint event cannot be led by one (Congress party). The CM should not be so stubborn.”

“The CM’s statement that the state government is cooperating with the SGPC in celebrating the birth anniversary jointly is not true,” Longowal said.