Akal Takht measured in its praise
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, December 19
Akal Takht has welcomed the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) but, at the same time, showed concern about the alienation of Muslims. It also decided to constitute committees to take the possession of Gurdwara Dangmar in Sikkim and taking care of Mangu Mutt in Jagannath Temple in Puri (Odisha), which was partially demolished recently.
All this was decided in a meeting here on Thursday.
On the CAA, Giani Akal Takht officiating Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh said, “For Sikhs and Hindus uprooted from conflict zones such as Afghanistan, the Act has come as a relief as they were living like refugees in Delhi and other states for long for the want of citizenship. It would have been better had Muslims, too, would have been made part of the Act.”
Sikh activists from the Bhai Himmat Singh Trust from Puri, Guru Nanak Dev Jee Religious Charitable Trust and Orissa Sikh Pratinidhi Board held a meeting with Giani Harpreet Singh to apprise him of the discrimination meted out to Sikh shrines located outside Punjab.
An SGPC panel, meanwhile, has returned from Puri after monitoring the ground situation. A panel member, Surjit Singh Bhittewad, said the sanctum sanctorum of Mangu Mutt was intact, yet the construction around it was demolished.
