Centre ‘ignoring’ Sikh issues for four years, alleges SGPC

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 17

After the SAD and BJP parted ways in 2020, the PM Narendra Modi-led NDA government had been ignoring the Sikh issues, alleged the SGPC sources.

Even the demand of a committee formed by Akal Takht to change the Sahibzadas Martyrdom Day to “Sahibzade Shahadat Diwas” had been ignored, said the sources.

Similarly, issues pertaining to historic gurdwaras in Sikkim, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand have not been addressed by the Centre even after the SGPC sent multiple communiqués for their resolution.

Yesterday, SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami alleged that the Central Government was deliberately ignoring Akal Takht appointed five-member panel to take up the cases of “Bandi Singhs” (Sikh political prisoners).

Though the SGPC had commenced the campaign to secure the release of Bandi Singhs in 2013, they became vociferous after the BJP’s oldest ally left the NDA in protest against the passage of three controversial farm laws.

In response to a letter sent by the SGPC to the Prime Minister’s Office, the latter asked the former to contact the Home Ministry.

After correspondence with the Ministry of Home Affairs in February, the meeting with a five-member panel was cancelled a day before the schedule.

The SGPC had initiated a signature campaign for the release of Bandi Singhs on December 1, 2022. By April 2023, around 26 lakh Sikhs signed the petition demanding the release of Sikh political prisoners.

On March 9, during the visit of President Droupadi Murmu to the Golden Temple, the SGPC had apprised her that it was an emotive issue to the community and submitted a list of “Bandi Singhs”.

Since April, SGPC secretary Partap Singh has been repeatedly approaching the Governor’s Office to seek an appointment, but to no avail.

Dhami had stated that the SGPC would send a delegation to meet President Droupadi Murmu to request her to endorse Balwant Singh Rajoana’s mercy petition.

In stark contrast, when both the parties were in alliance, the Sikh issues were taken up swiftly. A 4.7 km Kartarpur corridor was opened connecting historic Sikh shrine in India and Pakistan in 2019.