Scores of protesters, led by the Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee and Shiromani Akali Dal, staged a demonstration outside the Congress headquarters here today in protest against formation of a separate body to manage affairs of gurudwaras in the party-ruled Haryana.
The demonstrators claimed that the formation of Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (HSGPC) was a "conspiracy" by the Congress to "divide" the Sikh community.
Police had erected barricades near the 24 Akbar Road office to stop the protesters from moving ahead. But as they tried to break the barricades, police resorted to use of water canon to disperse them.
"Around 60 to 70 protesters were detained... They were later released," said a senior police officer.
The Haryana Assembly had on July 11 passed a bill for creation of Haryana Sikh Gurudwara Parbhandhak Committee (HSGPC), which got the Governor's "assent" on July 14.
According to the bill, a committee namely Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee will be established for proper management and control of the gurdwaras and their properties within the state.
The committee with 40 members will be elected for a five-year term by Sikh voters of Haryana. It will have its head office at Kurukshetra and regional offices at Panchkula and Jind.
The Congress had promised formation of a separate SGPC in its poll manifesto in 2005, but it could not fulfil the promise during Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda's first term and took it up during his second term. The next Assembly elections are due in Haryana in October this year.
With the bill becoming an act, the provisions of the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925 would cease to have any application within the territory of Haryana, the bill mentions.
