हिंदी
(Leaders say they will not allow anyone to interfere in the religious affairs of the Sikh community)
(Also condemn efforts to hoist disgraced former Jathedar of Takth Patna Sahib back on his old post after two years)
Chandigarh, September 23 2021
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today condemned the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for unjustly holding senior party leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa ineligible for co option as member of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) as a nominee of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and asked it not to interfere in the religious affairs of the Sikh community.
Addressing a press conference here, senior leaders Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra, Maheshinder Singh Grewal and Avtar Singh Hit said it was condemnable that the AAP government had used its power to get the nomination of Mr Sirsa rejected by the Director of the Directorate of Gurdwara Elections. The leaders said Mr Sirsa was eligible for nomination as a co-opted member as per the provisions of the DSGMC Act of 1971. They said Sirsa had even filed his application in Punjabi although as per provisions the definition of being able to write in Punjabi was limited to signing his name in Gurmukhi script.
The leaders said “still the Director has held him ineligible for co option on grounds that he had does not have proficiency in writing and reading Gurmukhi even though Sirsa submitted a copy of his BA Honours Punjabi degree from Sri Teg Bahadur Khalsa College, Delhi University, which he did from 1990 to 1993. He also submitted a certificate issued by the Principal of Sukho Khalsa Senior Secondary School, New Delhi, which testified that Sirsa had recited Gurbani in Gurmukhi and had also written Gurmukhi script before the Principal ”.
READ MORE :-SAD asks Channi to move quickly and arrest Dharamsot in SC Scholarship scam case.
Meanwhile Takht Patna Sahib Management Board president Avtar Singh Hit today condemnedr the custodian of the Takth Patna Sahib for asking disgraced former Takth Jathedar Giani Iqbal Singh to rejoin the Takth in his old capacity. Mr Hit said Giani Iqbal Singh had quit as Jathedar following serious charges of moral turpitude besides other irregularities leveled against him by the ‘sangat’. He said it was surprising that now after two years he had secured judicial relief and was trying to rejoin his old post. “The Sikh Panth will not tolerate this under any circumstances and any effort to make Giani Iqbal Singh rejoin as the Jathedar will spoil the peace”, Mr Hit added.
