Capt Amarinder wants to control Gurdwaras, says former CM Parkash Singh Badal

Like Britishers had given control of gurdwaras to ‘mahants’, he (Amarinder) wants to hand over the control to ‘mahants’ of Congress, Badal said.

Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal launched a sharp attack on Punjab chief minister (CM) Amarinder Singh and accused him of conspiring to take control of Sikh institutions, including the SGPC, adding that the‘Sikh Sangat’ would not allow the Congress to succeed in its “nefarious designs”.

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“Amarinder’s next move is to take control of the Gurdwara and other institutions. His elders had also tried to do so in the past. Sikh Sangat will not tolerate that the control of gurdwaras goes into the hands of representatives of Congress,” Parkash Singh Badal said during his address in SAD rally organised in Patiala on October 7.

Like Britishers had given control of gurdwaras to ‘mahants’, he (Amarinder) wants to hand over the control to ‘mahants’ of Congress. It is a conspiracy to wipe out our religious culture,” he alleged.

Badal likened Amarinder Singh to “dictator and Hitler” and claimed the CM wanted to create a “stumbling block” to stop people from reaching the rally he was addressing.

Amarinder Singh yesterday said in Delhi that “his government did not want to control the SGPC but wanted the Badals out of it as they had made the religious body their fiefdom.”

Seeing a large gathering of Akali workers at the rally, Badal said he had never seen such a large conference in his 70-year-long political career.

“This rally was organised against the repression and injustice unleashed by the Congress-led regime,” he said.

He also lashed out at the Congress for Operation Bluestar in 1984 and hit out at the party for “sending Army and tanks to the Golden Temple”.

“Today they are talking about sacrilege of religious scriptures. When Army had attacked the Golden Temple, the damage was caused to the shrine and Guru Granth Sahib and Akal Takht,” he said.

Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was “facing heat” from a section within the party over his style of running the SAD, said the Akali Dal was not a “property” of the Badal family and somebody else could represent it after a few years.

“Shiromani Akali Dal is not a property of the Badal family. It is a property of elders and the (Sikh) community. Today I am serving Akali Dal. In next few years, it could be someone else. SAD is a representative of Sikh community,” said Sukhbir.

Earlier, addressing party workers, Sukhbir claimed that several forces were trying to weaken the Akali Dal.

“I want to tell (the people) that nobody can weaken Akali Dal. This public (sitting in the rally) is with Akali Dal. It is neither with Sukhbir Singh Badal nor Parkash Singh ji Badal,” he said.

On the sacrilege issue, he said he was upset with the incidents at Bargari in 2015. “Badal Sahib at that time could not sleep for two days. Those who are involved in this heinous crime are demons,” he said.

He added that at least 70 incidents of sacrilege had taken place during one and a half years. “Now no Congressman raises this issue,” he said.

Several leaders, including Prem Singh Chandumajra, BJP Punjab chief Shwait Malik, Parminder Dhindsa, son of Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Tota Singh, Balwinder Singh Bhundar, Sikandar Singh Maluka attended the rally.

However, Taksali leaders Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, Rattan Singh Ajnala, Sewa Singh Sekhwan did not attend the rally