Akal Takht-formed panel to meet soon : Dhami

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami on Friday said a meeting of the Akal Takht-constituted panel — which was formed to oversee a membership drive for the Shiromani Akali Dal — will be held in a day or two.

The statement came days after the party initiated its month-long membership drive after rejecting the seven-member panel constituted by the temporal seat, citing legal complications in accepting the order.

Dhami, who is also a SAD member and associated with the party’s membership drive, made the remarks following a meeting of the SAD working committee in Chandigarh.

“Even today, I attended the meeting as an observer,” he said about the SAD meeting.

In a decree on December 2, the temporal seat had asked the committee headed by Dhami to initiate a six-month membership drive, which was to be followed by the party’s restructuring.

The panel included rebel Akali leaders.

Gurpartap Singh Wadala, who headed a group of dissident Akali leaders and had launched with them the “Akali Dal Sudhar Lehar” with an aim to reform the party, said they are yet to receive any communication from Dhami about the proposed meeting.

“If this meeting is held, we would have no hassle in attending it. But the agenda of the meeting should solely be to enforce Akal Takht decree,” he added.

He also objected to the ongoing membership drive.

“Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh, after holding discussions with other high priests, had declared from the podium of the Akal Takht that the existing SAD leadership had lost the moral right to lead the Sikh Panth politically. So, how could the SAD’s membership drive be accepted by the Panth?” he said.