Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s move to carve a separate Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) in the state by November 1 is what grabbed headlines in Punjabi newspapers in the past fortnight.
The move to entrust SGPC with the task of managing Sikh shrines in Punjab is the first of its kind ever since the All-India Sikh Gurdwara Act was promulgated in 1925.
Punjabi newspaper
Daily Ajit, however, questioned Haryana’s move to break away from the SGPC and constitute its own body to manage the shrines. It said, “The SGPC, formed under a central Act, can only be splintered after an amendment is made to the Act.”
The daily agrees with a section of Sikhs, who claim that the SGPC had not been paying much attention to the gurdwaras in Haryana. The SGPC manages 73 gurdwaras in Haryana and earns an annual revenue of Rs1 crore from the shrines.
Rozana Spokesman, too, supported the move. “The move will improve the condition of gurdwaras in Haryana. Instead of performing its duties, the SGPC has been playing second fiddle to the Akali Dal. It’s high time to form a committee to manage Sikh shrines,” it said.
Jagbani carried reports on Akali leaders’ efforts to counter the move. “A mere handful of Congress-supporting Sikhs have been creating a ruckus over the issue,” Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal said.
Badal also questioned the authenticity of the 1 lakh affidavits Haryana supposedly collected from Sikhs. “It’s all made up. Akali Dal will take recourse to all possible means to safeguard the interests of the Sikhs,” he said.
“This move will have dangerous consequences and it’s the Centre and Haryana government who will be the ones to blame… The Congress is dividing the Sikhs on the sensitive issue,” the daily quoted Akali Dal general secretary Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa as saying.
Dhindsa recalled how the two adjournments over the issue caused uproar in parliament. “MPs cutting across party lines supported Akali Dal’s demand,” he said.
