Chief minister Parkash Singh Badal has asked the Congress leadership to refrain from playing with fire by amending the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1971, which could disturb the hard-earned peace of the state.
Talking to mediapersons after inaugurating the Punjab Institute of Technology
(PIT) here on Saturday, the chief minister said the move to amend the Act by Delhi was a testimony to the fact that the Congress was meddling in the religious affairs of the Sikh.
“Congress leaders have not learnt any lesson from the past and now they want to amend a gurdwara act. The proposed amendment is for direct election of the president of the DSGMC by the voters instead by elected members,” he added.
The chief minister alleged the sole aim of the Congress leadership behind such move was to give benefit to its ‘B’ team, led by Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) chief Paramjeet Singh Sarna and company, who were working at the behest of the Congress leadership so as to weaken the Sikh ‘panth’.
He indicated that he would soon meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde for seeking their immediate intervention in the matter. He said it was the duty of all Punjabis to preserve the peace and communal harmony of the state by curbing the nefarious designs of anti-Punjab forces.
While referring to his objections in the proposed amendments to the Delhi Gurdwara Act, Badal said Sarna and company wanted the president of the DSGMC to be elected directly by the voters. Presently like the SGPC, the president of the DSGMC is elected by the elected members of the committee for a specified period.
“The SGPC holds indirect elections to elect its president. The Prime Minister and the chief minister all are elected by elected members of Parliament or the assembly. How can you all of a sudden bring about a change in the DSGMC,” he added.
‘Rahul should focus on corruption, not drugs’
Later, while addressing a congregation on the occasion of the birth anniversary of the late Sant Kartar Singh, a former head of the Damdami Taksal at Bhura Kona village, the chief minister said rather then introspecting the reasons of his party’s defeat in Punjab, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi should peep into his conscience to search for the reasons as to why his party was neck-deep in corruption at the national level.
Badal reiterated that the frequent trips of Gandhi to the state would hardly make any impact on the political scenario of Punjab. The SAD-BJP alliance would win all the 13 Parliamentary seats in the next Lok Sabha polls, he predicted.
Making a scathing attack on the UPA government, the chief minister said the decision of the union government to allow Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail sector would ruin the small traders of the country. He said his party was duty bound to oppose this anti-people decision of the UPA-government.
Earlier the chief minister also laid down the foundation stones of a power sub-station at Kalsian village and a charitable hospital to be constructed at cost of Rs. 2 crore at village Pahuwind.
News Source: H Times
