M A I N   N E W S

Names of Sehajdhari Sikhs to be removed
Voter lists for SGPC elections
Sarbjit Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 20
The Union Government has decided to remove the names of all Sehajdhari Sikhs from the voter lists for general elections of the SGPC.

Informed sources said today that as the Union Government had decided to deny the right to vote to the Sehajdhari Sikhs in the SGPC elections, hence the decision to remove their names from the voter lists. The SGPC elections were due to be held in October 1999. But these have not been held yet for unknown reasons.

The sources said while preparing fresh voter lists, around 8 lakh Sehajdhari Sikhs were enlisted as voters in Punjab. The total number of voters enlisted for the SGPC elections in Punjab was around 58 lakh. In Haryana, of the 31.5 lakh voters enlisted for the SGPC elections, around 55,000 were Sehajdhari Sikhs, and in Himachal Pradesh, around 9,000 were Sehajdhari Sikhs of the 25,000 voters.

The decision to remove the names from the voter lists had been taken by making a necessary change in the Section 49-A of the Sikh Gurdwara Act of 1925. Besides the SGPC, a number of other organisations had opposed the inclusion of the names of the Sehajdhari Sikhs in the voter lists.

The draft of the voter lists were ready. These would be published by the end of the December after carrying out necessary corrections on the basis of objections raised by persons concerned. The decision of the Union Government had come at a right time. Otherwise, after the final publication of the voter lists, it would have been very difficult to remove the names of Sehajdhari Sikhs from the lists, sources said.

Interestingly, the Punjab Government had supported the voting right to Sehajdhari Sikhs in the SGPC elections. In fact, this issue has been hanging fire for the past four years. In 1999, the Union Government wrote to the then Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, that whether his government supported or not the voting right to Sehajdhari Sikhs. Mr Badal had kept the file pending till he was voted out from the power in the state.

However, a few hours before formally submitting his resignation to the Governor, he tried to convey to the Centre that voting right should not be given to Sehajdhari Sikhs, but he was unable to do so as the officer concerned, who was asked to write to the Centre in this connection, refused to do so taking the plea that the Badal government had already lost the elections. Later, the file was put up to the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, who supported the voting right to the Sehajdhari Sikhs.

The sources said before the final publication of the voter lists, all such names would have to be removed from the lists. Otherwise, if these names were not removed, a lot of confusion would be caused during the elections.

Even Sehajdhari Sikhs will not be able to vote in the elections of the local committees of the gurdwaras managed indirectly by the SGPC. Under Section 92 of the Act, there are gurdwaras having monthly income over Rs 1,00,000, which are managed by the elected local committees. Three members of such committees are elected at local level and one is nominated by the SGPC. And the “ patit Sikhs” (with shorn hair on head and clipped beards) will also be having no right to vote.