Akalis push for amendment to gurdwara Act

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 21

Keen on retaining its Sikh vote base, the Akali Dal will be building pressure on its alliance partner, the BJP, to bring in a central amendment to the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925, that will bar the Sehajdharis from casting votes in the SGPC elections.

The party’s strategy is to ensure that the amendment is brought during the Budget session of Parliament that begins on February 23. Top leaders of the party have been holding parleys with the Central BJP leaders in Delhi, asking them to bring the amendment soon as it will help the Akali-BJP alliance retain its vote share.

The issue is also learnt to have been discussed during the meeting of Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal and BJP president Amit Shah, held a fortnight ago. Senior party leaders, who met during the core committee meeting of the Akalis on Thursday last were also briefed about the matter.

A draft on what exactly the amendment is going to be has been prepared by a team of lawyers, after consultation with SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar and Maheshinder Singh Grewal. The duo had been mandated by the Akali core committee in December last year to come up with a legal framework.

Party leaders have told The Tribune that the definition of Sehajdhari Sikhs may include all those Sikhs who may not be baptised, but follow all tenets of the Sikhism. But only baptised Sikhs will be allowed to contest the elections. Though earlier there was some resentment within the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) over the amendment, sources say the only hurdle left to clear for this amendment the Union Home Ministry. But the BJP top leaders too are asking the Union Home minister to get this issue through.

The Akalis point of view is that once this amendment is cleared by Parliament, the election to the SGPC can be held by June or July. With the incidents of desecration of Guru Granth Sahib last year and the government’s “mishandling” of the incidents having hit their Sikh vote base, especially in Malwa region, the holding of SGPC elections now will help them win over the Sikh voters and consolidate this chunk of voters.

SGPC poll controversy 

The SGPC elections were last held in 2011, which were challenged by the Sehajdhari Federation after the Sehajdharis’ right to vote in the gurdwara elections was withdrawn by the Centre, reportedly on the advice of the ruling SAD. In the absence of any general house, the courts have allowed the 15-member SGPC executive elected in November 2010 to conduct day-to-day functioning of the religious body. It is by virtue of this ruling that Avtar Singh Makkar and other office-bearers have continued to hold the office since then

Who are Sehajdhari Sikhs 

A Sehajdhari is a person who has chosen the path of Sikhism, but is not baptised. He believes in all tenets of Sikhism and teachings of the Sikh Gurus, but may or may not adorn the five symbols of the Sikh faith. This is not to be confused with the term Mona Sikhs or Mona Sardars who are of Keshdhari ancestry, but may chose to cut their hair