Jagir Kaur rolls out agenda, says will restore autonomy of SGPC

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, November 6

Suspended Akali leader and former Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) chief Bibi Jagir Kaur today presented agenda which she would implement if she wins the upcoming SGPC poll.

She said she would restore autonomous and Panthic reputation of the SGPC and free it of political interference.

Terming her recent suspension from the Shiromani Akali Dal unconstitutional and illegal, Jagir Kaur said she and her associates were receiving threats from the Akali leaders. She said the SAD and the Bharatiya Janata Party may form an alliance in the future.

Speaking to the media in Jalandhar, Jagir Kaur said, “There is a general sentiment among the Sikh sangat that the SGPC should be free of poiltical meddling. Time and again questions have been raised even by the SGPC members. The restoration of autonomous and Panthic reputation of the SGPC will be my key priority if I get elected. I will reach out to the Sikh scholars and leaders of other political parties.”

She added, “The SAD was a volunteer core of the SGPC. Its purpose was to be the SGPC’s assisting force to protect religious places and the Sikh principles. However, there has been a role reversal in the past few decades. The Panthic and free image of the SGPC has taken a hit in recent times.”

While responding to her suspension order and whether she would meet the SAD leadership tomorrow, Jagir Kaur said, “They should have given me a chance before suspension. I have already asked them under what provision of the party’s constitution I was suspended. Pardhan Sahib (SAD chief) announced formation of a disciplinary committee in Delhi. The party does not have any structure. The disciplinary committee should have been formed after working comittee meeting.”

Claiming that she and some leaders were being threatened, Jagir Kaur said, “The SGPC members are being told that ‘we will recognise your hand writing and no one will vote for Bibi’. At whose behest is this happening?”

Questioned on receiving backing reportedly from the BJP, she said, “They (SAD) have spent years in alliance with the BJP. They were MPs and ministers. They gave (BJP leaders) tickets. Mera tan koi matlab hi nahi (I wasn’t associated with the BJP in any way).”

She claimed that when Dr Daljit Singh Cheema came to meet her, the latter said that without forming an alliance, neither the Akali Dal nor the BJP could win a seat.

Jagir Kaur added that if Gurmeet Ram Rahim would have been jailed in 2007, there wouldn’t have been the present crisis and all the Sikhs need to raise the issue of Sikh political prisoners.

Will meet leaders of other parties

The restoration of autonomous and Panthic reputation of the SGPC will be my key priority if I get elected. I will reach out to the Sikh scholars and leaders of other political parties. — Bibi Jagir Kaur, formerSGPC chief

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