Sikh forum seeks early SGPC poll

Amritsar, March 14

After a change of government in the state, fringe Sikh groups have started raising voice against removing administrative bodies, set up under the patronage of SAD (Badal), to run Sikh religious and educational institutes.

The Sikh Forum has sought early elections of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC).

A senior member of the forum, Manjit Singh Calcutta, who had been the general secretary of the SAD and the SGPC for nearly 25 years, said it was high time to liberate Sikh religious and educational institutes.

He said the SGPC had already outlived its five-year term and its elections were long due.

Without naming prominent Sikh educational institutes, such as Chief Khalsa Diwan and Khalsa College, Calcutta said, a majority of these were being run by SAD-appointed office-bearers, who no longer enjoy the support of the Sikh populace.

Earlier, the forum conducted its meeting under the leadership of its president Bhag Singh Ankhi.

He said the victory of Capt Amarinder Singh in the Assembly elections heralded a new dawn of better governance in the state.

He hoped that the new government would deliver justice in cases of desecration of Guru Granth Sahib and rehabilitate the maryada of Sikh Takhts.

Ankhi said Captain Amarinder watched the interests of the Sikh community throughout his political career and conclusively proved it.

“He resigned from the Lok Sabha to protest against Operation Blue Star and resigned from the Barnala Cabinet following Operation Black Thunder,” he said.

He said Amarinder had vigorously campaigned to prevent Abohar and Fazilka from going to Haryana. Ankhi said recently Captain Amarinder took part in a movement to save the existence of Khalsa College. — TNS