Close X
Sunday, December 1, 2024
ADVT 
India

War of Domination: HSGPC continues siege of Kurukshetra gurdwara

Darpan News Desk IANS, 03 Aug, 2014 08:18 AM
  • War of Domination: HSGPC continues siege of Kurukshetra gurdwara
Members of the newly-constituted Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (HSGPC) Sunday continued their siege of Kurukshetra's Gurdwara Chatti Patshahi on the second day of their bid to take over the Sikh shrine.
 
Even though there were not many people from the HSGPC side till afternoon, tension built up after 3 p.m. as some protestors tried to breach the police barrier near the gurdwara. However, police prevented them from proceeding ahead.
 
Heavy police deployment was seen near the gurdwara Sunday. Leaders of the HSGPC and their supporters had Saturday laid siege just 100 feet from the gurdwara, one of the state's biggest, in Kurukshetra, about 110 km from here. Those trying to take control of the shrine breached two police barriers Saturday along the route.
 
Members of the task force and other volunteers of the Amritsar-based Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), which still controls Sikh shrines in Haryana, were inside the shrine premises, ready to resist any attempt for a forcible take over. Many people from both sides were carrying traditional weapons like swords, spears and sticks.
 
A high-level delegation of the Shiromani Akali Dal, comprising SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar, Akali Dal general secretary and former union minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and others met Haryana's new Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki at Haryana Raj Bhawan here Sunday and demanded immediate review of the Act passed by the Haryana Assembly allowing the creation of the HSGPC.
 
The delegation told the governor that by enacting this measure unconstitutionally, the Haryana assembly had violated the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925. They urged the governor to direct the Haryana government to stop the "illegal" HSGPC from forcible takeover of Haryana's Sikh shrines.
 
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said Sunday that the forcible takeover of Haryana gurdwaras would not be allowed at any cost.
 
The HSPGC had Friday asked the SGPC to hand over records of the Haryana gurdwaras to it, but the latter categorically refused to do so.
 
Punjab's ruling Shiromani Akali Dal and the SGPC are locked in a bitter controversy with Haryana's Bhupinder Singh Hooda government over the creation of the HSGPC.
 
On June 11, the Haryana assembly had passed a bill under which a new committee would be set up to manage gurdwaras in the state. The Haryana Sikh Gurdwaras (Management) Bill, 2014, got the assent of the state governor June 14.
 
The SGPC, the mini-parliament of Sikh religious affairs, which controls gurdwaras across Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, will lose control over gurdwaras in Haryana with the new law.
 
The SGPC, which has a Rs.950 crore annual budget, controls majority of the gurdwaras in Punjab, including the holiest of all Sikh shrines 'Harmandar Sahib' (popularly known as Golden Temple) in Amritsar.

MORE India ARTICLES

India gave 'befitting reply' to beheading of soldiers

India gave 'befitting reply' to beheading of soldiers
The Indian Army gave "a befitting reply" to Pakistan after an Indian soldier was beheaded along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir, outgoing army chief General Bikram Singh said Thursday....

India gave 'befitting reply' to beheading of soldiers

Kerry, Sushma to chair India-US Strategic Dialogue

Kerry, Sushma to chair India-US Strategic Dialogue
US Secretary of State John Kerry, who has said that the US is prepared to work "hand in hand" with the Narendra Modi government, is to...

Kerry, Sushma to chair India-US Strategic Dialogue

Trap corrupt policemen, Kejriwal tells rally

Trap corrupt policemen, Kejriwal tells rally
AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal Thursday urged autorickshaw drivers to trap policemen who demand bribes by recording their voice on mobile telephones....

Trap corrupt policemen, Kejriwal tells rally

Sonia to reveal truth with a book

Sonia to reveal truth with a book
Congress President Sonia Gandhi Thursday refuted the allegations made by former Congress leader Natwar Singh's in a book and said she would write...

Sonia to reveal truth with a book

Suhag takes over as new army chief

Suhag takes over as new army chief
General Dalbir Singh Suhag Thursday took over as the new chief of the 1.3 million strong Indian Army...

Suhag takes over as new army chief

'Old fears' of cultural polarisation rising in Goa

'Old fears' of cultural polarisation rising in Goa
While apologizing for his "India is already a Hindu Nation" and "I am a Christian-Hindu" comments, Goa Deputy Chief Minister Francis D'Souza did not necessarily admit to any wrongdoing....

'Old fears' of cultural polarisation rising in Goa