PATIALA, April 23: The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) president Gurcharan Singh Tohra today described the offer of Pakitsan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to enact the Gurdwara Management Act in Pakistan as a `farce' because, according to him the WAQF Board there had been looting the landed property of 184 historical Sikh gurdwaras since Independence.Talking to media persons here, Tohra alleged that land belonging to gurdwaras in Pakistan were being given on Rs 250 per acre lease by the WAQF Board and protests by the SGPC in this regard had no effect on the Pakistan Government.He recalled that he had met the late Pakistan president Zia-ul-Haq and demanded that SGPC should be allowed to send its sevadars to perform religious ceremonies in the historical gurdwaras but the former had turned down his request.He said the Pakistan Government permitted Sikh Jathas from India to visit five gurdwaras of Punjab Sahib, Nankana Sahib, Sucha Sauda, Dera Sahib and Chur Sahib only, though there were 184 gurdwaras in Pakistan which came under the Gurdwara Management Act, 1925, enacted by the British Government at that time.Tohra expressed his dismay that the Union government had not taken an initiative on government-level for proper control of the gurdwaras across the border. His meetings with former external affairs minister R L Bhatia remained fruitless in this regard, he added.He alleged that the Sindhis, who were the followers of Guru Nanak Dev, were not being allowed to enter the gurdwaras in Pakistan to perform religious duties by the Pakistan authorities and were allowed to visit the gurdwaras only when Sikh jathas visited Pakistan.Reacting to the suggestion of former Supreme Court judge Kuldip Singh that there was need for an amendment to the Sikh Gudwara Act,1925, Tohra said the definition of Sikh voter should be changed so that Sahajdhari Sikh voters were not allowed to vote in the gurdwara elections, as described in the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Act,1975.He called upon the BJP-led Union government to enact an All-India Gurdwara Act, which was part of the Punjab Accord, to enable the Sikh community to manage and control Sikh historical gurdwaras properly and utilise their resources for social and educational purposes.
