हिंदी
(Says Gurdwara Commission should keep a provision for registering political parties for the elections)
Chandigarh, 8 February 2024
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami today appealed to the Gurdwara Elections Commissioner to revise the voter list before initiating the election process to the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC), stating several irregularities including addition of non-Sikhs in the list and not putting up pictures of voters in the voting list.
Addressing a press conference here, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami said “the election schedule to the HSGMC has been announced in haste without holding any meeting with political parties”. He said no provision had been kept to register political parties for allocation of symbols for the election and that this was being seen as an attempt to deny registration to the representative body of the Sikhs – the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). “This should be corrected”, he added.
The SGPC president said perusal of the few voting lists had revealed a large number of non-Sikh names who were not eligible to vote for the Gurdwara elections. He said besides this, pictures of the voters had not been included in the voter list which would make it difficult to identify genuine voters and could result in malpractices.
Mr Dhami also pointed out that only 390 booths had been earmarked in the entire State for casting of votes in the elections. “This means voters from an average of twenty villages will vote in one designated booth”, he said adding this would inconvenience the voters greatly.
Mr Dhami also disclosed that the SGPC had lodged its protest against the Maharashtra chief minister for reconstituting the Sri Hazur Sahib Board. He said the number of nominated members in the Board had been increased from two to 12 even as the representation of the SGPC in the Board had been reduced from four to two. “This amounts to a government takeover of the Board which is being condemned by the entire Sikh Sangat. We appeal to the Maharashtra government to withdraw this decision immediately in keeping with the sentiments of the Sikh community”.
Meanwhile speaking at the press conference, Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said there should not be any government interference in the religious affairs of the Sikh community which should be allowed to manage their shrines in time honoured fashion. He said the Gurdwara Election process in Haryana should be set in motion only after considering all the objections of the Sikh Sangat even as he appealed to the Maharashtra cabinet to withdraw its order reconstituting the HSGMC. Senior leaders Sikander Singh Maluka and Surjit Singh Rakhra were also present on the occasion.
