Punjab Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa today asked Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to accept the reality of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) as it was now a legal entity.
In a statement, he said the Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh had made a positive intervention by summoning Sikh leaders of Haryana and Punjab and called for steps to withdraw the excommunication of Haryana Sikh leaders H S Chatha, Jagdish Singh Jhinda and Didar Singh Nalwi as otherwise, they could not participate in negotiations.
Slamming Badal, Bajwa said the Chief Minister had realised that Akali Dal rank and file were not prepared to go against members of their own community in Haryana.
"Moreover, the BJP had also realised the far reaching consequences that the Akali morcha could have on the region," he said.
Referring to the objections raised by Badal against the Haryana Gurdwara panel, he advised the latter to contest its elections as that was the only democratic way.
He pointed out that Badal's party the Shiromani Akali Dal had "captured" the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee after ten years by defeating the Delhi Akali Dal.
"The Akali Dal should also adopt the democratic path like in Delhi," he said.
Bajwa said the Akali Dal and the SGPC were also free to challenge the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Act in the court of law but the legal route was being avoided.
He also proposed that the Akali Dal and the NDA government at the Centre should go ahead with the enactment of the All India Gurdwara Act which had been put into cold storage due to vested interests.
