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Journalism of Courage
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today warned that any move to “divide the Sikh community” by splitting the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) would push the state “back into the dark days of eighties and early nineties”.
“Sikhs are known to be a brave community that made the most significant sacrifices for securing freedom of the country,” he said, while addressing the National Integration Council meet here.
“Without mincing words, let me say that despite this, Sikhs have been treated most unfairly and condemned as traitors, thanks to the highly opportunist and dangerous political games players by the rulers,” Badal said. “The latest example being the dangerous move to try and divide the Sikh community by splitting their religious organisation, the SGPC, and setting up a separate committee outside Punjab,” he said.
Badal had recently met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to protest the move.
He said the SGPC was formed after the community earned the right to manage its shrines. “It is shocking that a national party, which calls itself secular, has not only tried to sabotage this glorious representative religious body of my community, but even put the splitting of the SGPC on its election manifesto,” Badal said. He claimed that a very “dangerous situation was emerging”. He thanked the PM for his “timely intervention in the matter”.
The Punjab CM said the country’s social structure and economic health were facing some of the greatest challenges and “communal harmony was facing threats from several quarters”.
“It may sound a bit harsh but the impression one gets of India at this juncture is of a nation almost at war with itself…and this calls for an immediate and massive nationwide initiative to come out of the situation,” he said. Badal claimed that political outfits and social groups were exploiting the situation due to their vote bank politics.
