Haryana Sikhs has the right to manage their gurdwaras in absence of all-India gurdwara act

 

Haryana Sikhs has the right to manage gurdwaras in absence of all-India gurdwara act

Ground Zero

Jagtar Singh

 

“The Sikh Gurdwara Act should be made applicable, besides Punjab, to other historical gurdwaras in rest of Hindustan and the princely states”.

This was the last of the six resolutions adopted by the general house of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee constituted under the Sikh Gurdwara Act at its first meeting on 4 November 1926 at townhall, Amritsar.

It was this resolution that set the ball rolling subsequently for the demand for the enactment of the All India Gurdwara Act.

This resolution mentioned in ‘Shiromani Committee Da Panjaah Saala Itihaas’ published by the SGPC has been recalled here in the context of strong reaction at one level at the long awaited verdict by the Supreme Court yesterday upholding the validity of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara (Management) Act, 2014. Jathedar Akal Takht Giani Harpreet Singh, SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami and Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal have strongly reacted to the verdict and are deliberating upon the next move.

SAD today stated after the meeting of its top leadership here today, “The Supreme Court verdict recognizing validity of a separate gurdwara management committee for Haryana had alienated and discriminated against the Sikh community and said it would organize the entire Khalsa panth against this decision under the leadership of Sri Akal Takth Sahib.”

It is the reaction of the Akal Takht acting Jathedar that calls for scrutiny as it smacked of partisanship and amounted to denying the right to the Sikhs in Haryana to manage the notified historical gurdwaras in their state.

Akal Takht symbolises the trans-territorial sovereignty of the Sikhs and it is in this context that the reaction of Giani Harpreet Singh should be evaluated. The Akal Takht chiefs are known to have committed blunders earlier and that includes exoneration of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim of the blasphemy charge on a flimsy apology and that decision had to be later withdrawn following Sikh ire.

There are several dimensions to the Supreme Court decision and the reaction in a section of the Sikh religio-political matrix.

The first and foremost is the role of the Shiromani Akali Dal on this issue over the years.

It was the Akali Dal that subsequently articulated the demand for the All India Sikh Gurdwara Act forcefully. The recommendation for the same to be enacted has to be made by the SGPC general house.

The earliest draft of this proposed legislation in circulation is dated 1958 and is available in the archive of Bathinda based activist Harvinder Singh Khalsa.

Two subsequent drafts prepared in 1985-86 and 1999-2000 are with this writer.

Separately, the SGPC had also recommended several amendments to the Union Home ministry to the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925.

The issue phased out after 2000.

This was the period when the politics and priorities of the Shiromani Akali Dal under presidency of Parkash Singh Badal were shifting.

It is pertinent to mention here that the enactment of the All India Gurdwara Act was one of the 15 demands on which the Shiromani Akali Dal had launched Dharamyudh Morcha on August 4, 1984 and the first jatha to court arrest was led by Badal himself.

While opposing the aspiration of the Haryana Sikhs, the Akali Dal must tell the Sikhs as to why the party backtracked (the word ‘Backstabbed’ is also used) from this demand over the years. Alternatively, it must be shared as to how many time the top Akali Dal leadership met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to press this demand. After all, a member of the Badal family has been part of the Modi cabinet till 2020 till forced by the situation to quit.

The only other region where the Sikhs earlier had the right under a separate legislation to manage their shrines is Delhi. It was due to the struggle by Shiromani Akali Dal that the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Act came into existence in 1971 leading to the setting up of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee. Takht Patna Sahib in Bihar and Takht Hazoor Sahib in Maharashtra are managed by separate boards.

The representation of the SGPC in the Hazoor Sahib management board was diluted by the Maharashtra government when the Akali Dal was part of the Modi government.

In case the Akali Dal has pressed for all India gurdwara legislation while in Modi government, the situation would have been different.

However, going by the drafts, the Shiromani Akali Dal would not have been in commanding position under that scenario and this could be the main reason that the party under the House of Badals shifted away from this demand.

There are some other important aspects.

This issue had first cropped up when the SGPC president was Gurcharan Singh Tohra, who consulted Justice Kuldip Singh who had retired from the Supreme Court. He counselled Tohra that legally, Haryana could go ahead under Section 72 of the Punjab Re-organisation Act. He adopted a different approach and succeeded in mollifying the Haryana Sikh leaders for the time being.

The issue re-emerged some years later under a different situation when Sukhbir Singh Badal was bringing his own team in the party and experimenting with the SGPC too, including its so-called corporatisation.

A senior Akali Dal from Punjab was informed of the fresh move when he had gone to attend a social function in Haryana. He was told by the very person who himself was instrumental in the enactment of the new legislation.

That leader is learnt to have sought appointment with chief minister Badal but he dismissed this information saying Haryana had no power to enact separate law. For years, the perception has been that the SGPC was governed by an act of Parliament. However, the fact was that the Sikh Gurdwara Act 1925 had been adopted by the Punjab Legislative Council. This act came under jurisdiction of the Parliament only with the re-organisation of Punjab under the Punjab Reorganisation Act.

It may be recalled that federal structure has been on the agenda of the Akali Dal since 1952 and the party has been demanding autonomy for years.

How come that the party opposes autonomy to the Sikhs in Haryana to manage their own gurdwara?

The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee finally evolved as a platform for the Delhi Sikhs to make their political assertion.

Now the Haryana Sikhs too would have their own platform.

There is yet other aspect that has led to the present situation.

The SGPC has performed glorious role in the Sikh religio-political domain over the years and this role too phased out after 1999.

One has to go through the 5-point programme adopted at the general house of the SGPC at its general house meeting in May 1979 that in itself was the future vision for this dynamic community.

The SGPC has been making forceful political assertions and interventions from time to time, including being the only statutory body in then India to oppose the Muslim League demand for creation of Pakistan. The SGPC twice passed the Sikh state resolution during that period.

Now that very body has been reduced to just an ordinary committee for the management of the gurdwaras.

The Sikh sentiments now should not be exploited for partisan interests.

The Akal Takht Jathedar must function in the broader religion-political domain rather than being perceived as partisan.

Shiromani Akali Dal even otherwise has come to be confined to Punjab and stands marginalised even in its base area.

The Sikhs in other states have the right to manage their own affairs under the given situation.