New Delhi, August 5
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) mounted pressure on the palki issue and demanded action against Sarna brothers as several persons have claimed to have paid the entire sum for constructing it. Also Pakistan Prime Minister has challenged the quantity of the gold used in the palki.
Addressing newspersons, the president of the Delhi unit of the SAD, Mr Avtar Singh Hit, said the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) should come out with the truth, as several crores of money was collected in the name of constructing palki and now some persons were claiming to have paid the entire sum for constructing it.
He said besides nobody was countering Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz claim that only 1.5 kg of gold was found in it.
The DSGMC had claimed that more than 10 kg of the yellow metal was used in its making.
“Now, some Jagjit Singh Kocher, a relative of Sarna brothers, has claimed that he had given the money for constructing the palki. Earlier there were reports that Santa Singh and liquor baron Ponty Chadha had borne the cost of making Palki. The DSGMC had claimed that it had made the palki. With so many claims for the palki, the Sikhs want to know who made it?” asked Avtar Singh.
The party’s general secretary, Mr Kuldip Singh Bhogal, said a large sum of money was collected from the Sikhs in Delhi. Also a number of Sikhs had donated money and material when the palki was taken out on a procession. “But the DSGMC has failed to give any account to these money - How much it was? What happened to it later? Not even to the executive committee members,” he said.
Meanwhile, SAD (Panthak) chief Manjit Singh requested Akal Takht Jathedar Joginder Singh Vedanti, to appoint a panel to probe charges that DSGMC leaders Harvinder Singh Sarna and Paramjit Singh Sarna had overstated the amount of gold used on the palki they took to Nankana Sahib last year.
Urging Akal Takht to appoint a panel of religious leaders and experts to probe the issue, Manjit Singh said, “The Sikh community gave money out of their religious devotion but now they are appalled to find that they have been cheated in the name of Guru Granth Sahib, which they hold in high esteem.”
A delegation of SAD’s Delhi unit would be visiting Pakistan later this month on a fact-finding mission to verify the claims made by both the DSGMC and Pakistan Prime Minister.
It would also find out whether the authorities in Islamabad were interested in the installation of the palki at Nankana Sahib, as it was earlier intended. If not, Avtar Singh said they would inform the decision of the Pakistan authorities to Akal Takht Jathedar and demand recall of palki to Delhi.
About the reported disappearance of Baba Amrik Singh Kar Sewa wale with over Rs 2 crore, Avtar Singh said a criminal case had been registered against him and claimed that he was not absconding.
“He is being sheltered by the Sarna brothers at their residence in the Capital,” he alleged and demanded the authorities to take the necessary legal action. It was the same Baba, who had been entrusted with the kar sewa in Nankana Sahib on behalf of the DSGMC and was associated with the palki procession.
