Preparing for a showdown with the Bhagwant Mann government over the amendment made in the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has convened a special session on Monday in Amritsar to evolve a strategy to counter the Aam Aadmi Party dispensation’s move.
The general house session will be convened by the SGPC at Teja Singh Samundri Hall to chalk out its next plan of action to oppose the amendment. The general house sessions are usually convened twice a year: once to elect the new president and the second when the annual budget is to be passed. But this is being termed as a special session specifically to discuss the fallout of the government’s move to amend the Act.
SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami gave a call for the session to arrive at a unanimous decision to counter the government’s move. While the SGPC is an independent religious body, the office bearers are aligned to the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).
While bringing the legislation, the Mann government said that the broadcast of Gurbani from Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) in Amritsar should be free for all. Harmandir Sahib has been, since 1998, broadcasting Gurbani in the morning and evening. Broadcast rights since 2007 have been with the PTC network, owned by the Badal family which runs the Akali Dal.
SGPC sources said that since there was unanimity in the committee that the move was “illegal", the special session was being convened to evolve a strategy on how to counter it. Among the options being explored is challenging the move legally, but the committee wants the session to discuss all the options before taking a final call. Sources said that the session could also pass a resolution endorsing a move for SGPC to have its own satellite channel.
Also being explored is initiating a move for a “people’s agitation" to put pressure on the government to retract its decision. Invites have been dispatched to 156 members and Panj Singh Sahibans (five Sikh high priests) for the meet.
Last time, the SGPC convened a meeting in March this year in the wake of the Haryana government enacting the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management (HSGM) Act, 2014. The house then unanimously passed a resolution demanding that the union government repeal the Act in Parliament by using its constitutional power.