CHANDIGARH: Following the move by Haryana’s Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress Government to set up a set up a separate Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC)has declared its intention to initiate legal action against the Hooda Government.
Hooda is scheduled to participate in a Sikh convention at Kaithal on Friday at which he is likely to announce a separate sikh body for Haryana to manage the gurdwaras there.
“The SGPC will take legal action against Haryana government’s proposed move to set up a separate body to manage the affairs of Sikh shrines. We have made a subcommittee in this regard, which will seek advice from legal experts and chalk out the future course of action,” said SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar.
“The committee will also bear the expenses that will arise in pursuing the case,” he said.
Makkar also cautioned Hooda against meddling in the religious affairs of Sikhs. According to him, the proposed move by Hooda Government was anti-Sikh and posed a threat to the community’s unity. The SGPC chief also condemned the Haryana government for the alleged undue delay in granting recognition to a medical college, which had been set up at Shahbad in Kurukshetra district.
Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had said on Sunday backed the Hooda Government’s move to set up a separate Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. “Haryana is a separate state like Delhi, Bihar and Maharashtra, which have their own bodies for managing the Gurdwaras. When those states can have their own body to manage the Gurdwaras why not Haryana?” he asked, adding, “or simply because (Punjab CM Parkash Singh) Badal does not want to part with the huge resources the Gurdwaras generate,” he had said.
Badal, who is also patron of the Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD), has opposed a separate SGPC for Haryana, terming it an interference in the internal affairs of Sikhs.
“People, for their vested interests and to divide and weaken Sikh community, have been supporting the sinister move of the Haryana government to constitute a separate Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee,” he had said.
Currently,the Haryana government is studying the legal and religious provisions for setting up the separate body, Hooda had said.