Akali Dal gains
little support in Panthic domain against Haryana Gurdwara panel
Ground Zero
Jagtar Singh
The struggle against the separate Haryana
gurdwara panel launched by the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Shiromani Gurdwara
Parbandhak Committee seems to have failed to stir the Sikh religio-political
domain unlike the earlier historic and glorious struggles, the last one being
the Dharamyudh Morcha launched on August 4, 1982.
This despite the fact that SGPC chief
Harjinder Singh Dhami dubbed the Supreme Court verdict validating the Haryana
Gurdwara Management Act, 2014 as an attack on the Sikhs worse than even
Operation Bluestar, the code-name for army attack on the Darbar Sahib (Golden
Temple) complex in June 1984.
The Supreme Court verdict did not have any
shock effect so far as the common Sikhs are concerned, especially in Punjab as
this was only the culmination of a long legal process and political discourse.
There is a more important dimension to
the situation.
This act would not have been needed in
case the leadership of the Shiromani Akali Dal had not dumped the issue of
all-India gurdwara legislation, several drafts of which have been in
circulation over the years including the ones dated 1979, 1986 and 1999. There was
also a move initiated in 1999 to amend the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925 for which
recommendations had been forwarded to the governments concerned and the SGPC.
The seeds of the all India gurdwara
legislation can be traced to the very first meeting of the general house of the
first Shiromani Committee elected under the Sikh Gurdwara Act in 1926.
The enactment of this all-India legislation
was part of the Punjab Accord signed on July 24, 1985 between prime minister
Rajiv Gandhi and Akali Dal chief Sant Harchand Singh Longowal. The 1986 draft of
All India Gurdwara Bill was product of the Punjab Accord.
First the recommendations made in the
drafts of 1986 and 1999 proposed legislation needs to be looked into.
Both these drafts recommended constituting
the central gurdwara board at the national level with the state and regional
boards functioning under this authority.
It may be mentioned that the name of
the authority under the Sikh Gurdwara Act 1925 was the central gurdwara board
but the first general house after the election opted to retain the earlier name
of SGPC.
Here is from the 1999 draft:
“18. (1) The central board shall
consist of the following members, namely;
(a) Seventy one members as specified in the First
Schedule to be nominated by the state boards and the regional boards out of
their elected members;
(b) The Head Granth of Sri Darbar Sahib, Amritsar,
Punjab;
(c) The Jathedars of each of the following
Takhats, namely:-
(i)
Sri Akal Takht
Sahib, Amritsar, Punjab
(ii)
Sri Takhat
Keshgarh Sahib, Anandpur Sahib, Punjab;
(iii)
Sri Takhat
Harimandir Ji Patna Sahib, Patna, Bihar;
(iv)
Sri Takhat Hazur
Sahib, Nanded, Maharashtra;
(v)
Sri Takhat
Damdama Sahib, Talwandi Sabo, Punjab
(d) Twelve members to be coopeted by the members
specified in the clause (a) from amongst the intelligentsia of the Sikhs;
Provided that
out of the members so co-opted, four shall be the residents of the states other
than the constituent states of Punjab Board and one shall be a Sikh saint
of established repute and respect
belonging to any “Sampardai” of the Sikhs;
Provided further
that a member co-opted, other than the Sikh saint, shall preferably be a
graduate of an Indian university or has an equivalent educational qualification.”
The central board was to have 46 members
from Punjab board (that included Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Union
Territory of Chandigarh) and the rest from other boards in the country as
specified under the act.
The state boards were to be elected
through adult franchise by the Sikhs.
The central board was to manage Sri Darbar
Sahib and the five Takhts.
Section 75 of this draft proposed the
setting up of a central religious authority under the Akal Takht Jathedar on
issues of Panthic importance.
Here are the details from the 1986
draft:
18. The Central Board shall consist of the
following, namely:-
(a) one hundred and eleven elected
members as specified in the First Schedule;
(b) the Head Granthi of Sri Darbar
sahib (Golden Temple) Amritsar, Punjab;
(c) the Jathedars of each of the
following Takhats, namely:-
(i) Sri Akal Takhat Sahib, Amritsar,
Punjab.
(ii) Sri Takhat Keshgarh Sahib,
Anandpur Sahib, Punjab.
(iii) Sri Takhat Harimandir Ji Patna
Sahib, Patna, Bihar.
(iv) Sri Takhat Hazur Sahib, Nanded,
Maharashtra.
(vi)
Sri Takhat
Damdama Saib, Talwandi Sabo, Punjab.
(e) Twenty-four members to be co-opted by the
members specified in clause (a) by single transferable vote from amongst the
Sikh scholars, ex-commissioners Sikh officers of the defence services, educationalists,
doctors, lawyers, retired gazetted government employees, retired High Court
judges or persons representing the Panthic interest which are not otherwise
represented on the central board.
Here is a clause relating to the
cooption that is important.
-Out of the members so co-opted, not
less than two and not more than three shall be Sehajdhari Sikhs including one
belonging to the Sindhi community, and one such member shall be out of well
known Sikh saints of established repute and respect belonging to any Sampardaye
of Sikh origin.
-At least five shall be out of
scheduled castes.
It is the Appendix of the 1986 draft
that is important as it documents the details of the proceedings leading to
this documents that included the review of the 1979 draft prepared by Justice
Harbans Singh referred to the Punjab government by the Central government. The Surjit
Singh Barnala government set up a committee headed by Information and Public
Relations Minister Natha Singh Dalam that held two meetings. A new drafting committee was accordingly
constituted with Dr. Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia as the member-convener. The SGPC
too set up a sub-committee for this purpose.
Significantly, the 1986 draft was sent
by the Punjab government to SGPC chief Kabul Singh, former SGPC chief Gurcharan
Singh Tohra, Parkash Singh Badal, Maharaja Amarinder Singh and Sukhjinder
Singh..
As per this appendix, “No views were
received from any of the above mentioned leaders”.
Then there are amendments that too
were circulated for final decision.
The issue suddenly entered the “silence
zone”.
The Haryana move was initiated only
after this draft phased out of the agenda of SGPC, the Shiromani Akali Dal and
the Punjab government.
The present situation would not have
arisen in case this issue had been taken to logical conclusion.
It is not without reason that the Supreme
Court verdict has failed to provoke the Sikhs at large.
Opposition to Haryana panel would
amount to confronting the Haryana Sikhs by the Punjab Sikhs.
Punjab can now move to restore
jurisdiction of the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925 back to the state government.
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