Ludhiana, November 28
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president, Mr Avtar Singh, stayed away from the golden palanquin march which reached here today from Delhi on its way to Nankana Sahib. None of the leaders or prominent workers from the Shiromani Akali Dal could be seen anywhere in or around the palki, which was accorded a warm welcome here by thousands of devotees in different parts of the city.

One of the aides of Mr Avtar Singh said the SGPC chief was in Delhi since yesterday and would return late in the evening. He refused a reply as why he had left for Delhi when he knew that the golden palanquin would be reaching here today.

On his part, the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee President, Mr P.S. Sarna, who is leading the march, tried to sound non-partisan and maintained that he welcomed Mr Avtar Singh elevation to the post of the SGPC President. He advised him not to “play in the hands of Mr Parkash Singh Badal” for maintaining the independent and distinct identity of the SGPC.

Mr Sarna denied any political purpose of his march with the golden palanquin. “But one thing is sure that Mr Badal and his party has been sidelined and marginalised as people refused to listen to his call for boycott of the march,” he claimed, while adding, the Sikhs had proved that they could not be “fooled and misguided”.

Regretting that it was the “Badal Akali Dal”, that had tried to politicise the march by asking its supporters not to participate in it, he said, “it is just a religious yatra aimed at paying obeisance to the Guru”. He observed that the huge response the march had been getting from the public proved that the Sikhs thought beyond partisan considerations.

While seeking to play down the political overtones of his yatra, he said the DSGPC
was prepared to cooperate with the SGPC provided it (the latter) came out of Mr Badal’s clutches. He observed that there had been a decline in the Sikh values during in the past two decades and the situation
could be retrieved if the two committees worked together. He said, in case the SGPC did not look beyond Mr Badal, the DSGPC would resume its
activities in the state.