Karnal, Haryana (June 27, 2014): A day after all SGPC members from Haryana met Akal Takhat Jathedar and requested him to stop Haryana Sikhs from demanding separate committee for Sikh Gurdwaras of Haryana, a Shiromani Akali Dal Badal (SAD-B) SGPC member revolted demanding separate committee on Friday.
An elected member of the SGPC from Haryana, Bhupinder Singh Assandh, revolted to safeguard the interests of the Sikh sangat during a press conference Dera Kar Sewa gurdwara here. Assandh blamed SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar for playing in the hands of SAD president and Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and overlooking the interests of Haryana Sikhs, reported Hindustan Times.
Assandh, the senior vice president of Shiromani Akali Dal, Haryana, was elected SGPC from Karnal in 2011. Earlier, he had won the SGPC polls from Kaithal in 1996.
He showed his full support to the HSGPC faction led by Didar Singh Nalwi and Jagdish Singh Jhinda and claimed several of other 10 SGPC members from Haryana were in his touch on freeing Haryana gurdwaras from the clutches of SGPC and Badal Dal of Punjab.
Assandh said that it was unfortunate that the religious money was spent in Punjab to suit the political interests of Badal Dal.
He said that late SGPC president Gurcharan Singh Tohra never allowed any undue political interference but the present SGPC head Makkar was a puppet in the hands of Badal Dal leadership.
“Sikh sangat questions me on why the community from Haryana is not given employment in the gurdwaras and that only Punjabis are appointed as managers, sewadars, inspectors and other works even in Haryana. As I am not given even patient hearing by the SGPC and Badals, I find it fit that only formation of HSGPC may resolve such issues,” he said.
“Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, his son and Makkar have cheated Sikhs of Haryana. They had promised several developmental projects, but are all ignored for unsaid reasons. I personally met Sukhbir Singh Badal recently thrice but he did not show any intention to implement the projects announced for Haryana,” he said.
Assandh said that the Badals and Makkar ignored the Sikh sangat of Haryana only to accommodate their cronies in various projects.
He said that before the recent Lok Sabha elections, the SAD leadership had assured to form a sub-committee from leaders of Haryana and Punjab to run gurdwaras of Haryana, but now they have refused to discuss the matter.
Also, aimed at empowering Haryana Sikhs, a sub-office of the SGPC was proposed at Kurukshetra but that too has been shelved.
“Makkar himself had laid the foundation stone of sub-office in October 2010, but its work had not been started. Similarly, an engineering college at Jind and a school at Dhamdhan Sahib are among the projects which have not moved beyond foundation stone laying ceremony,” he said.
Assandh said that the upcoming Miri Piri Medical College at Shahbad Markanda town of Kurukshetra was delayed by nearly a decade.
“I had requested the Badal Dal leadership and Makkar to nominate few members from Haryana in the board of medical college management who could build a pressure on the state government to grant a no objection certificate for public welfare project. But the Badal family continue to control such projects which are being built purely by the donations collected from gurdwaras,” he alleged.