Chandigarh/ Punjab (July 1, 2014): According to a report published by Times of India, Punjab is all set to drag the Congress government in Haryana to court over gurdwara politics. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has decided to challenge Haryana’s decision to create a separate body to manage gurdwaras there.
At present, all gurdwaras in north India, except Delhi, are managed by SGPC with an annual budget of Rs 905 crore. Of this, around Rs 150 crore is spent on gurdwaras in Haryana, reported TOI journalist Rohan Dua.
Head office of SGPC
SGPC, which is controlled by Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal’s SAD, on Monday announced that it would move court against the Haryana government after CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda announced he was in favour of a separate body in his state. Hooda is expected to make an official announcement during a massive convention of Sikhs in Kaithal on July 6.
“SGPC has decided to take a legal recourse against the Haryana government for its unethical move to set up a separate body to manage affairs of gurdwaras,” a note by SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar said. He confirmed that the Punjab CM had backed the decision.
It is going to be a tightly contested tug-of-war for power, given that even SGPC is facing a revolt from within. Three of its elected members from Haryana have publicly supported Hooda’s move, which is seen as an attempt to woo over 43 lakh Sikhs in the state ahead of the forthcoming assembly elections. At present, SGPC is managing 72 gurdwaras in Haryana.
“We are consulting our lawyers. SGPC also has the support of chief minister Badal,” Makkar added.
On June 26, Hooda had prepared a 14-page draft of Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Act, 2014 while citing Section 72 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966. The Act, he has claimed, guarantees the formation of an independent body to run gurdwaras in Haryana.
Makkar, however, maintained that they had the right to manage the gurdwaras in Haryana through the pre-Independence SGPC Act of 1925. He refused to comment on whether the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) would be merged with SGPC. DSGMC has a budge of Rs 110 crore and manages 210 gurdwaras.
“Dehli gurdwaras were never part of us. We will fight this legal battle as we have had control over all gurdwaras in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh since 1925 till the time they were one state,” Makkar said.