SGPC to meet Amit Shah over Gurdwaras Act amendment

Amid a row over the amendment of a religious act, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Harjinder Singh Dhami on Thursday said the organisation will be meeting union home minister Amit Shah about the issue. The Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government in Punjab recently amended the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925, to allow the free telecast of gurbani from the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) rejected the move during a general house meeting on June 27. It has also urged Punjab governor Banwari Lal Purohit to evaluate and look into the amendment.

During an event to mark the birth anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur in Patiala, Dhami said, “We will gather like-minded panthic organisations and meet the home minister over the matter.”

The SGPC has vociferously rejected the amendments, which it claimed amounts to interference in the Sikhs’ internal religious affairs. “We cannot take this amendment lying down. We have rejected it completely and have also explained the whole matter to the governor. He should look into its nitty-gritty before reaching a decision, as the government’s step of amendment without seeking the SGPC’s consent will set a precedent of carrying out unconstitutional amendments in various acts in future,” Dhami said.

Citing illegality of the move, the SGPC chief said even the Centre cannot carry out any amendments in the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925, without the consent of two-third members of the SGPC.

“Sikhs are not able to understand that the AAP-led government’s act of carrying out an amendment in the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925, without the SGPC’s consent is a direct interference in Sikh religious affairs. People are misinterpreting it as a matter of a selective news channel. This will set a wrong precedent of carrying out unconstitutional amendments and we are against it,” he added.