Punjab: SGPC Warns Of Stir If Sikh Gurdwaras Bill Not Withdrawn, AAP Govt Under Fire

Chandigarh: Upping the ante against the chief minister Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab, the gurdwaras apex body - Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) - has warned that a stir would be launched if the recently passed Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023, was not withdrawn.

For the record, the state assembly had on June 20 passed the said Bill aimed at ensuring free Gurbani telecast from Golden Temple. The rights for the same have so far been with PTC channel, a private channel, which is often linked to the Shiromani Akali Dal’s (SAD’s) Badals’ family. The Bills evoked sharp reactions from SGPC, SAD and the opposition parties, namely Congress and BJP.

Mann accused of interfering in the SGPC matters

It was in this context that the SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami at its special general house meeting held in Amritsar on Monday, assailed Mann accusing him of interfering in the SGPC matters and trying to implement the "anti-Sikh thinking’’ of the AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal with an aim to "capture" SGPC. The SGPC also passed a resolution terming the Bill a direct assault on the SGPC’s jurisdiction and independent status. The section 72 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, also maintained that the Gurdwaras Act could only be amended on the recommendation of the SGPC general house, the resolution added.

Agitation will be launched from Akal Thakt

Dhami also went on to threaten that if the government did not stop interfering into the Sikhs affairs, an agitation would be launched from Akal Takht, the highest Sikh temporal seat. Reacting to the SGPC resolution, Mann asked the SGPC later in the evening on Monday, to explain what it did except for blaming him in the meeting. He said that it was surprising that the specially called session (of the SGPC) was used only as a platform to criticise him.

The chief minister went on to allege that Dhami was just acting as a chief spokesperson of the SAD by toeing the line of his masters. He alleged that it was unfortunate that instead of dwelling on a serious issue related to spreading the message of sacred Gurbani, the SGPC session was merely confined to criticising him. Mann held that people knew how SGPC and its president was acting as a stooge of the family at helms of affairs in SAD.