M A I N   N E W S

Avtar Singh re-elected SGPC chief
GS Paul
Tribune News Service

Sweets being offered to Avtar Singh after his election as SGPC president. Tribune photo: Vishal Kumar

Amritsar, November 16
Avtar Singh was re-elected the president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) for a sixth successive term at the Teja Singh Samundri Hall here today. He was elected SGPC president for the first time in 2005 and is the second incumbent to occupy the top seat of Sikh religious body for the maximum number of terms after late Gurcharan Singh Tohra, who had remained its head for 27 terms.

The election process commenced in the afternoon, when Sukhdev Singh Bhaur, general secretary of the SGPC, proposed the name of Avtar Singh. Upon this, SGPC member from Haryana Didar Singh Nalvi proposed the name of SGPC member from Fatehgarh Sahib Bhajan Singh, which prompted secret ballot voting.

The SGPC House has a total of 190 members, including 170 elected members, 15 nominated members and five Jathedars of different Takhts. All of them, except Jathedars, have voting rights. Avtar Singh secured 133 votes out of 156 polled votes while Bhajan Singh polled 23.

However, rest of the office-bearers and 11 executive members were elected unanimously. Raghujeet Singh Virk was elected senior vice-president, Kewal Singh Badal junior vice-president and Sukhdev Singh Bhaur general secretary.

Eleven executive members elected were Rampal Singh Benipal, Rajinder Singh Mehta, Dyal Singh Kolianwali, Surjeet Singh Garhi, Nirvail Singh Johla Kalan, Karnail Singh Panjoli, Suba Singh Dabwala, Mohan Singh Bangi, Gurbachan Singh, Mangal Singh Mumbai and Bhajan Singh, the last from to the opposition camp.

Later, Avtar Singh said education and propagation of Sikhism would be the top priority of the SGPC. “It will be our first priority to expedite the process of establishing Sri Guru Granth Sahib Vishav University at Fatehgarh Sahib, where 28 courses will be offered,” he said.

“A delegation of the SGPC will soon proceed to New Zealand for collaboration in certain job-oriented courses. Similarly, the SGPC will open more schools and colleges and focus will mainly be to bring the rural children of deprived sections of society to the main stream,” he added.

Rejecting the formation separate SGPC in Haryana, Avtar Singh said a sub-office of the SGPC would be established separately in Haryana and around 100 fresh recruitments would be made from Haryana Sikhs. He said provision of separate account books pertaining to the transactions of gurdwaras in Haryana had already been made.

After the election process was concluded, the house unanimously extended approval to certain resolutions wherein it had been demanded to make amendments in the Sikh Gurudwara Act for increasing the number of nominated members of the SGPC. At present, there is a provision of 15 members under the nomination category while the house demanded that the SGPC should deliberate on the issue with the Central Government through the Gurdwara Election Commission for inclusion of at least 10 Amritdhari NRI Sikhs.

While appreciating the new name of Amritsar airport as Sri Guru Ram Dass International Airport, the house also urged the Government of India to take up the matter of unnecessary harassing and humiliating Sikhs by searching their turbans at the airports by the US security agencies with the US Embassy soon.

Meanwhile, the general house proceedings were boycotted by an SGPC member from Mohali, Hardeep Singh Mohali, when he was not allowed to speak over the controversial issue of objectionable contents in a book titled as “Sikh History” in Hindi edition, published under the stamp of the SGPC.