Maharshtra uses controversial amendment to appoint Hazur Sahib president

JALANDHAR: The Maharashtra government has nominated prominent industrialist Bhupinder Singh Minhas as president of the Takht Hazur Sahib Management Board despite Shiromani Akali Dal’s demand that the BJP government led by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis should not interfere and leave the election to elected/nominated members. The Maharashtra government also notified constitution of the new board that includes three newly-elected local members and SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal.

Local Sikhs burnt a copy of the notification and described it as direct interference in management of the board. However, SAD claimed the appointment of Minhas, said to be close to Baba Ramdev, had been made on its recommendation.

The Maharashtra government issued a notification on Friday constituting the new board. Interestingly, it used Section 11 of the Act to nominate Minhas. Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal had specifically mentioned this section in her tweet on January 22, tagging CM Fadnavis and asked him to review amendment to Section 11 of the Act that gave the state government power to appoint chairman of the board. “This should be left to 17-member comm as before. Sikh community should be allowed to run its affairs without govt interference,” she added in her tweet.

On February 3, SAD president Sukhbir Badal had announced: “I held a meeting with Amit Shah and he has assured me that the original Act would be restored immediately and the Akali Dal would be consulted on every issue.”

However, Gurmit Singh Mahajan, who was among three newly-elected local members of the board and had spearheaded opposition to the power of the government to appoint president, said their issues were yet to be resolved. “We were demanding that old system should be restored and president should be elected by the board members. Akali Dal leaders were also demanding this but now the Maharashtra government has used the same provision to appoint the president,” he told TOI on Saturday.

On the other hand, SAD secretary and spokesperson Manjinder Singh Sirsa claimed the new president has been appointed in consultation with the “SGPC” and his name was recommended by it. Asked why the new president had been appointed using Section 11 that SAD had strongly opposed and termed as interference in Sikh affairs, Sirsa claimed it was a stopgap arrangement due to lack of enough time to constitute the new board before election code of conduct is imposed.

In January, Sirsa had posted a video message, saying, “The Maharashtra government wants to appoint president of Takht Hazur Sahib Management Board of its own choice. Minorities are apprehensive that why the government is keen to interfere in management of our shrines. We are being forced to speak out. We are not bothered about the alliance and can sacrifice posts of MPs or MLAs if the government does not stop interference in our religious affairs. There is resentment in the Sikh community. For us more than the alliance, our religious institutions are important and we can go to any extent. When there is question of gurdwara management, for us alliance becomes a secondary issue.”

A delegation of Nanded Sikhs had called on Fadnavis on January 22 and demanded amendment to the Takht Sri Hazur Sahib Nanded Board Act, 1956, which authorized the government to appoint the president of the board, should be reversed.

The amendment to Section 11 of the Act was made in February 2015 through which BJP MLA Tara Singh was appointed as the board president. After initial opposition by SGPC and Akal Takht Jathedar, Akalis had stopped raising the issue. They again raised the issue after Tara Singh resigned from the post.