Chandigarh, July 25
Haryana will allow peaceful assembly of pro-Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) activists from Punjab, but any attempt to vitiate the atmosphere will not be tolerated, said Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Friday.

In an interview to The Tribune, Hooda said his government will not allow any interference in the functioning of the state or move to disturb peace. The Haryana CM made it clear that in a federal setup every state had the right to respond to the demands and aspirations of its people. "A move such as the passing of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara (Management) Act, 2014 should in no way be seen as a conflict between the state and the Centre," he said.

He said the protests by some people in Punjab are only for gaining political mileage. "I don't understand what the SGPC and the SAD want. Sikhs in Haryana have been demanding a right to manage and run their gurdwaras. Now that the government had formed a legislation, why should anyone protest seeking denial of someone else's right?", he asked.

"I have appealed to Badal Sahib before and I appeal to him again not to vitiate the atmosphere in the two states. The legislation we have brought in is legally sound and will stand the test of any court. If the Akali Dal and the SGPC is so sure of their standing, they can go and challenge the Haryana Government's decision in any court and everyone will accept the verdict,” said the Haryana Chief Minister.

On timing of clearing the controversial legislation, Hooda said the state government had fulfilled the long pending demand of the Sikhs after a Supreme Court Constitutional Bench ruling on the right of the state in the Kashmir Singh case. The decision could not be taken earlier as

Haryana preferred to wait for the verdict of the apex court. "But it is ironic that an Akali MLA Justice Nirmal Singh, who was himself on the five-member Constitutional Bench that pronounced the verdict has now decided to join protests against his own judgment," Hooda said.

"The SGPC has accused me of trying to please the Sikhs with an eye on the elections. But the fact is that the SAD has lost ground after the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls with the Aam Admi Party (AAP) getting 4 seats and the Congress 3. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal is only trying to confuse the people for his political survival," claimed Hooda.

The SGPC is indulging in all kind of malicious campaign and false propaganda, perhaps with a motive to help the Akalis. The SGPC has been spreading falsehood that the income from the Gurdwara Golaks will be deposited with the Haryana Government Treasury, whereas The Haryana Sikh Gurdwara (Management) Act 2014 is a replication of The Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925. Does that mean that the Punjab Government is taking away the money from gurdwaras in the state?, Hooda asked.

"The SGPC, under directions from the SAD, is indulging in spreading lies that the gurdwara land and other properties would be vested in the Haryana Government and the Gurdwara Bill is a "money Bill" where all the assets would become property of the Haryana Government," claimed Hooda. He said the Haryana Gurdwara Act is an improvement on the 1925 Act which bans the use of money from the gurdwaras for any political gains, unlike in Punjab.

Quoting from relevant sections of the HSGM Act, Hooda said, "There shall be a gurdwara fund and all receipts and income of gurdwaras and of gurdwara properties shall be credited to the account of the gurdwara Fund in a properly maintained bank account."

Hooda said the SGPC's "false propaganda" is aimed at misleading the Sikhs. "They want to create an ugly situation which may lead to animosity between Sikhs of Haryana and Punjab," Hooda said. He said the Section 23 clearly states that the employees of the SGPC or any local management would become the employees of the HSGMC from the date of commencement of this Act and they would not be employees of the Haryana Government as is being propagated by the SGPC.

The Chief Minister said the nominated members of the HSGMC will elect their executive committee in a meeting tomorrow and this would pave the way for the HSGMC elections and new legislation to manifest itself. All the procedure and intricacies are detailed in the new HSCMC Act and there is nothing left to anyone's imagination.