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Haryana SGPC imbroglio continues as both sides dig in
WSN Bureau

AMRITSAR/CHANDIGARH: The eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation on the issue of a separate SGPC for Haryana showed little sign of abating as the general house meeting of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) last Friday declared Haryana CM passed a resolution declaring Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda as one among the "worst enemies" of the Sikhs for his "attempts to divide the community" even as pro-separate Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (HSGPC) members staged a walkout.

A day before that, Sikh clergy meeting at the Akal Takht also said no to separate Haryana SGPC but advocated an All-India Gurdwara Act to bring all Sikh shrines across the country under one umbrella.

But hardline stances continued to be aired. Jagdish Singh Jhinda, president of the self-styled ad hoc HSGPC said no one could stop them from setting up a separate committee while SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar told reporters that they would not allow the Congress government in Haryana to "cause a division in the community".

"Instead of pushing the case for a separate gurdwara committee, Hooda should do something substantial for the Sikhs of Haryana and promotion of the Punjabi language," Makkar said, and defended SGPC work and investment of resources in Haryana by referring to Miri Piri Academy and medical, dental and nursing institutes.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan emerged as the new errant boy on the scene by stoking fires for a new SGPC of its own.

There seemed to a general agreement that an All India Gurdwara Act can be one way of accomodating most concerns but as most people tracking the debate for decades know onmly too well, all sides only do lip service when it comes to such a statute. Neither the SGPC nor the Akali Dal want to let go of their vice like grip on a cash rich resource like the SGPC coffers.

Akal Takht jathedar Gurbachan Singh, Takht Patna Sahib Jathedar Iqbal Singh, Damdama Sahib Jathedar Balwant Singh Nandgarh, Takht Keshgarh Sahib Jathedar Giani Tarlochan Singh and Golden Temple head priest Bhai Jaswinder Singh participated in the clergy meeting that rejected the demand.  

19 August 2009
 

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