SAD’s Sukhbir Badal vows fight against ‘plot to break SGPC’; key meeting on Friday

Badal asserted that the SAD was ready to mount a legal battle besides protesting the move democratically. The agitation will be finalised after an emergency meeting of the SGPC’s general house on Friday, he added.

While the erstwhile Congress government led by Bhupinder Hooda had passed the Haryana Act recognising a separate gurdwara management committee, Punjab’s AAP government and the previous, Amarinder Singh-led Congress dispensation both took anti-SGPC stands in the court, he alleged. “The central government is also working to weaken the SGPC. It even took over the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee as part of this strategy,” the leader of the SAD, a former BJP ally, said.

Speaking on the occasion, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami said the entire Sikh Panth was perturbed by the manner in which the central government was “interfering in the religious affairs of the community”.

Dhami said the SGPC had already rejected the Supreme Court order validating the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara (Management) Act 2014. “We feel the verdict is politically motivated. We will come out with a strategy to resist it in tune with the sentiments of the sangat,” he added.

Senior leaders Maheshinder Singh Grewal and Dr Daljit Singh Cheema threw light on the legal battle and alleged that both the Congress and AAP governments had backstabbed the Sikh community.

Senior leaders Bibi Jagir Kaur, Gobind Singh Longowal, Kirpal Singh Badungar and Raghujit Singh Virk also addressed the meeting, which endorsed an SGPC resolution rejecting the apex court verdict in one voice.

Among the members from Haryana, Harbhajan Singh Masana, Baldev Singh Karimpuri and Jagsir Singh Mangeana also addressed the meeting.