Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa backs former SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh/Kapurthala, Nov 3

Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt) president and former Union Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa has come out in support of Bibi Jagir Kaur, who has been suspended from the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) for allegedly raising her voice against the “lifafa” (envelope) culture in the upcoming Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) elections.

Dhindsa said if anyone dared to oppose the anti-panth policies of Sukhbir Singh Badal, he or she was shown the door. What happened with Bibi Jagir Kaur was the latest such example, he said.

DSGMC throws weight behind jagir kaur

• The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) in Amritsar has expressed its solidarity with the decision of former SGPC chief Jagir Kaur
• DSGMC Dharam Parchar Committee (Punjab) chairman Manjit Singh Bhoma said it would be a “golden opportunity” to liberate the SGPC and gurdwaras from the control of the Badals

Dhindsa appealed to all members of the Shiromani committee to heed the call of their conscience and vote against the Badal faction in the election to the post of president and other office-bearers of the SGPC, scheduled for November 9.

Suspended by SAD for announcing to contest the election of the SGPC chief independently, Jagir Kaur today asked SAD chief Sukhbir Badal not to act as a dictator.

I take a stand on issues

Whenever Sukhbir, his wife Harsimrat or his brother-in-law Bikram Majithia wanted to take up any matter of the SGPC, they would talk directly to Harjinder S Dhami. They were, perhaps, uncomfortable with me because I used to take a stand on issues. —Jagir Kaur

The four-time SGPC chief said Sukhbir should let democracy prevail in the poll to the religious body and let the members elect their own president.

At her residence in Begowal dera, she said she did not face such issues during the reign of former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and she had gone to Lambi to discuss with him her desire to be the SGPC chief.

“Since he seemed weak and was getting stressed because of political discussion, I could not open my mind with him,” she said, adding that Sukhbir and his family had a soft corner for sitting SGPC chief Harjinder S Dhami.

“Whenever Sukhbir, his wife Harsimrat or his brother-in-law Bikram Majithia wanted to take up any matter of the SGPC, they would talk directly to Dhami. They were, perhaps, uncomfortable with me because I used to take a stand on issues.”

Jagir Kaur dared the Badals to openly announce their candidate this time instead of choosing to go via the “lifafa” system. “What is stopping them from disclosing the name of their candidate?” she said.

On the reasons of her suspension, she said: “According to my sources, Badals have a hunch that I can get close to 75 of the 156 votes in the SGPC, owing to which Sukhbir hurriedly ordered my suspension, stopped the SAD leaders from openly coming in my support and created fear in the minds of the SGPC members I was meeting. My stand is simple. I just want the Sikhs across the globe to have their faith in the SGPC reinstated and know that the Sikh body is not a puppet of the SAD,” she said.

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