Bhullar community to boycott SAD in state

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, Janaury 16

The Bhullar community has announced to boycott the SAD across the state over the issue of not resolving their chronic problem pertaining to a land dispute in which the SGPC has tried to grab their religious place which is located on the Mehraj road at Rampura.

They also claimed that the community has a high number of voters across the state and even they are in a majority in villages in various constituencies.

A meeting of the organising committee of the Gurdwara Sahib Mari Sikhan under the leadership of president Surjit Singh was held at Dhipali village in the district. While addressing the meeting, Surjit Singh said the Badal government was doing injustice to the Bhullar community since the beginning and was still doing it by forcibly encroaching the land which belongs to the community.

He claimed that due to the wrong policy of the government they had decided to boycott the SAD in the state. He also claimed that they would also hold a peaceful protest against SAD candidates during the elections. Though no party had given their cooperation and support in the matter, we have not decided to support any party.

Committee secretary Baldev Singh said in 1936 during the British rule, five gurdwaras were notified and the SGPC was given the right to take the procession of these gurdwaras. In 1974, the SGPC committee had accepted the ownership of the Bhullar community over this land in Rampura and even de-notified the land and keeping it separate from other gurdwaras, they handed over procession to the community. He claimed that later, the SAD and the SGPC in a conspiracy tried to grab the control of the land belonging to the community by showing the wrong income of the gurdwara in the SGPC. The community’s legal battle had exposed this conspiracy. He said during the protests, community leaders also approached Badal and other SAD leaders, who assured that this land belongs to the community and soon the SGPC would bring a resolution in their favour, but to no avail.

Naib Singh, Angrej Singh, Sadhu Singh, Rajwinder Singh, Balvir Singh, Sira Singh and Gulzar Singh were among those others present.