M A I N   N E W S

Jhinda & Co ask SGPC to vacate gurdwaras
Parvesh Sharma
Tribune News Service

Kaithal, July 31
The Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) authorities today adopted aggressive posturing by warning the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) to vacate Sikh shrines in the state or face legal action.

After its first executive body meeting at Neem Sahib Gurdwara this evening, HSGMC president Jagdish Singh Jhinda said: “We have written to the SGPC and the SAD asking them to vacate our gurdwaras since HSGMC has now been formed to take care of state gurdwaras.”

“We also request Akal Takht to intervene and direct both to vacate gurdwaras in Haryana. The Sikh sangat in the state is losing patience and if they fail to vacate the shrines, anything may happen anytime,” said Jhinda. On whether or not they had set a deadline to take possession of gurdwaras, Jhinda replied in the negative. Jhinda said they would take legal action against illegal occupants if they failed to vacate the gurdwaras.

On Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s statement that Haryana Police would not enter gurdwaras, Jhinda said there were many “other” ways to remove illegal occupants without entering gurdwaras. “Akal Takht is supreme for all Sikhs. We request it to intervene,” he said.

The HSGMC has decided to operate from the Kaithal gurdwara till it takes possession of the other gurdwaras in the state.

Asserting its control over the affairs of state gurdwaras, the committee has asked managers of eight main Sikh shrines to produce records at the HSGMC’s Kaithal office within two days. They would face legal as well as departmental action if they failed to do so, it added. The committee has also written to banks in Haryana asking them to stop financial transactions involving the SGPC since the HSGMC was the “sole legal body” looking after the affairs of gurdwaras in the state.