Punjab Congress Slams Akalis Over HSGPC Row

CHANDIGARH: Punjab Congress today slammed Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for resorting to "morcha (protest) politics" on the issue of Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee Act.      

Reacting to SAD's decision to organise a congregation at the Golden Temple complex on July 27 where a morcha would be announced, state Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa said Badal was "exploiting this holiest of holy shrines again for vested political interests".         

It seems Badal has not learnt any lesson from the decade-long turbulence he had pushed this state into, during which thousands were killed, Bajwa said in a statement here.         

He alleged that Badal's son and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal was already commercially exploiting the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and the Golden Temple.  

On the HSGPC, Bajwa asserted Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had only responded to the aspirations of the Sikhs of his state who, for years, had been demanding their right to manage their shrines.         

"This demand had nothing to do with the Congress," he clarified.   

The Congress leader claimed that Badal himself had been advocating federal setup for years and now he was objecting to the autonomy sought by Haryana Sikhs.           

Bajwa also hit out at Badal for accusing Congress of interfering in the religious affairs of Sikhs, while he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union ministers seeking intervention in Haryana which amounted to Centre interfering in the religious affairs of Haryana Sikhs.

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