The row over the creation of a separate Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) by Haryana escalated on Saturday with “agitated” leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) saying a “do or die” situation had been created for them and they will not allow the division of the SGPC at any cost. SAD’s core committee, which held an emergency meeting at the Punjab CM residence, decided to hold a religious congregation of Sikhs at the Golden Temple on July 27 to chalk out its future course. Sources said the possibility of CM Parkash Singh Badal resigning on July 27 to lead an agitation against Haryana cannot be ruled out. On July 22 a meeting of SAD office-bearers, SGPC members and representatives from across the country will be held at the SAD headquarters in Chandigarh to fine tune the party strategy. Describing it as an “assault on Sikh religion, religious institutions and the Sikh Gurdwara Act 1925 by the Congress government in Haryana headed by CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda at the behest of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi,” the core committee members passed a resolution expressing satisfaction over the Centre’s action on the issue. SAD general secretary Harcharan Singh Bains said the core committee asked the Centre to follow up on declaring the Haryana Bill unconstitutional with appropriate steps to make it null and void. “The Khalsa Panth will never tolerate interference in its religious affairs. Hooda is on a disastrous course of confrontation with the Khalsa Panth. He thinks he can repeat the blunder of the British government and hand over the management of sacred shrines to his favourite Mahants and Masands,” said Bains.
