HSGPC tells Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal to call back armed men

CHANDIGARH: Haryana Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee president Jagdish Singh Jhinda has warned Shiromani Akali Dal patron and Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal and SGPC president Avtar Singh Makar to call back their armed men who are controlling gurdwaras in the state.

Jhinda accused Badal and Makar of trying to push the Haryana Sikhs to adopt violent ways, even as the stand-off between the SAD and Haryana government eased after the SGPC called off a meeting planned last Sunday to discuss the state government’s move to set up a separate SGPC. “We have a legally constituted body. Badal and his men have no right to show muscle power,” Jhinda told ET, “Our men have been maintaining patience for quite a long time. Time Badal and SGPC stopped interfering in Haryana’s Sikh affairs. I understand their pain, as they no longer have control over the finances of state gurdwaras.”

Responding to Jhinda’s warning, Badal reiterated the efforts of Haryana to wrest the control of gurdwaras through its remote-controlled ‘modern mahants’ would not be tolerated at any cost. Badal on Friday said that the future course of action to oppose the “sinister move” of Congress government in Haryana would be decided at an appropriate time after due deliberations with the Sikh panth.