Haryana SGPC issue: HSGPC head Jagdish Singh Jhinda seeks Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Governor intervention

CHANDIGARH: Haryana Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee (HSGPC) President Jagdish Singh Jhinda met Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Monday. Jhinda told the CM that a large number SAD and SGPC-Amritsar supporters have assembled at the shrine, which can pose a threat to the law and order situation in the state.

A delegation led by Jhinda will also be meeting the Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki on Tuesday, seeking his intervention to resolve the ongoing crises over the possession of Gurdwaras.

“Governor is a constitutional head of the state, and he has to uphold the rights of legal body,“Jagdish Singh Jhinda said.

HSGPC has also called for a large congregation of Sikhs on August 6, where it will decide the future course.

“We will take a final call on August 6. Haryana Government is not interfering. We apprised the CM on how, SAD is trying to flair up the situation. SGPC has been sending task force men, in the garb of devotees. This has to be stopped,“ Jagdish Singh Jhinda told ET.

Tension has been prevailing after the HSGPC started marching towards the Gurdwaras, fortified by SGPC and Shiromani Akali Dal members in Haryana.

Police force has been put on alert at the major Sikh shrines. Highest temporal seat of Sikhs Akal Takht has again urged both sides, to resolve the issue through a dialogue.

In another set back to SGPC Amritsar, Sikh bodies in other Congress ruled states like Maharashtra are also mounting pressure on the pressure on the Government to form a separate SGPC. Also the HSGPC President Jagdish Singh Jhinda is seeking for the 40 percent share of Gurdwaras in Chandigarh.

Left with few legal options, SGPC-Amritsar had met the Haryana Governor on Sunday. Led by its President Avtar Singh Makkar, the delegation met Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki at Raj Bhawan demanding immediate review of the unconstitutional act passed by the Haryana Assembly against Sikh Gurdwara Act 1925.