CHANDIGARH: In a bid to de-escalate rising tension, Akal Takht (the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs) on Saturday directed the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) not to hold the Panthak conference at Amritsar on Sunday, and the Haryana Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee (HSGPC) not to hold the Haryana Sikh Convention at Karnal on July 28.
The Sikh leaders of both Punjab and Haryana have agreed to follow the directions of the Akal Takht.
The tensions started after the Haryana Government formed a separate gurdwara management committee in the state. Akal Takht Jathedar (High Priest) Gurbachan Singh on Saturday issued a directive to both the factions (SAD and HSGPC) and entire Sikh community not to hold any rally or convention on Sunday in Amritsar and in Karnal by Haryana-based Sikh leaders.
He said that in the light of prevailing circumstances, nobody could be allowed to hold conventions or rallies anywhere in Punjab or Haryana, as it could deepen the crisis in the Sikh community. Keeping in view the violence in Saharanpur in UP, everybody should focus attention on easing the situation there, Singh said. An SGPC team led by president Avtar Singh Makkar has been directed to reach Saharanpur to ease the situation, he said.
Talking about the separate Haryana Gurdwara Management Committee, Singh said both the factions would be asked to come to Akal Takht to find a solution to the current problem which arose after formation of a separate gurdwara committee in Haryana.
The Akali Dal had called the Panthic conference in Amritsar after the Haryana government refused to pay heed to the Centre’s missive to revoke the law passed for the creation of a separate SGPC for the state, which Punjab has termed unconstitutional and illegal.