Gurdwara panel tenure ends, community leaders seek polls

Nitish Sharma

Kurukshetra, June 1

As the 18-month tenure of the ad-hoc panel of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) got completed on May 31, the Sikh community leaders have sought early elections of the HSGMC.

Though a notification regarding the gurdwara polls was issued in February and the election was scheduled for March 6 for all 40 wards across the state, the notification was withdrawn in view of the school examinations. Former Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (ad hoc) chief and president of the Haryana Shiromani Panthak Akali Dal, Jagdish Singh Jhinda said, “The government-appointed committee members have failed to discharge their duties efficiently and a wrong message has gone in the Sikh community due to repeated disputes among the committee members. We had a meeting today to discuss the issue and we demand that the government should dissolve the committee without any delay and appoint a receiver. The government should announce election By June 11 and conduct it before the state Assembly election.”

Jhinda has also announced that he would hold another meeting and give a call of protests if the election was not announced by June 11.

Harpal Singh Pali, SGPC member from Ambala, said, “There is a sense of resentment in the Sikh community due to repeated disputes and wrong decisions taken by the committee members. The government should immediately appoint a retired judge as the receiver of the HSGMC and start the process for the elections. We have also decided to hold a Sikh Sammelan in Kurukshetra soon to discuss the future course of action.”

“The tenure got completed on May 31 but there has been no notification from the government about the next step, whether it will get the election conducted or extend the tenure,” said the HSGMC (ad hoc) executive member, Winner Singh.

Bhupinder Singh Assandh, president of the ad hoc HSGMC, said, “The tenure has completed but it will not have any impact on the functioning of the committee and we will continue to discharge our duties till there are any directions from the government. Even the ad-hoc committee during the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government, was formed for 18 months but it kept working for nearly eight years. We have requested the government to get the election conducted at the earliest.”