New Delhi, August 6
Objecting strongly to Haryana’s proposal to set up a separate gurdwara prabandhak committee in the state, Shiromani Akali Dal members, backed by their NDA allies and the SP, today stalled proceedings in both Houses of Parliament.
Two adjournments each in the Lower House and the Rajya Sabha on the issue saw the Question Hour being washed out in both.
SAD members demanded immediate reversal of the move by the Congress government in Haryana, describing the move as ill-advised, ill-conceived, divisive, and politically motivated in view of the impending assembly elections in the state. They asked the Prime Minister to set it aside or be ready for struggles.
In the Rajya Sabha, an agitated Opposition warned the Centre that any interference in the Sikh religious affairs could have serious consequences in not only Punjab but across the country.
The original SGPC, formed in 1925, is headquartered at Amritsar and is seen as a mini-Parliament of Sikhs and it decides on religious affairs of the community. It has elected members from Haryana on board. There is eight-nine per cent population of Sikhs in Haryana concentrated in northern districts adjoining Punjab.
Leading the charge, SAD leader Raj Mohinder Singh Majitha warned the government that it was “waking up a sleeping giant”. It will be dangerous as Sikhs will unite like never before to protest any bifurcation of the SGPC.
The BJP, which is the SAD’s alliance partner in Punjab, supported it fully demanding a reply from the Prime Minister on the matter. SS Ahulwalia of the BJP reminded the House about the death of Indira Gandhi, the creation of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and Operation Bluestar before he was asked by the Chair to stop getting into history and “controversial matters”.
Tarlochan Singh, an Independent member from Haryana, made an even more pertinent point, saying, “It is neither a matter of Punjab or of Haryana, it is a Sikh religious affair and there should be no interference of the Government”.
Leading the protest in the Lok Sabha, Akali member Ratan Singh Ajnala warned the Centre of lasting protests if their demand was not immediately heeded. He earlier stormed the well of the House with colleague Harsimrat Badal, who was trying to remind the Chair of the 1959 pact between Master Tara Singh (representing the Sikhs) and Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru, former Prime Minister, which said any amendments in the Gurdwara Act should only be undertaken after obtaining the approval of General Committee of the SGPC. Her voice was, however, drowned in the din.
