CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president, Gurcharan Singh Tohra, has categorically declared that he would not contest the next SGPC general house election. ‘Addressing a news conference here Oct 29, Tohra said that he would help ‘good candidates in these elections but shall not contest the elections personally. He came out strongly against the Damdami Taksal, the Sikh seminary which nurtured militancy, and said the organization had become a “private limited company” after the death of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and was playing into the hands of the government.
He also took the Taksal to task for perpetuating the myth that Sant Bhindranwale was alive. He alleged that while perpetuating this myth, the Taksal was playing into the hands of the security agencies and it was also in the interests of the government to keep this myth alive. He alleged that the ant minority cells in the RAW and the Intelligence Bureau were behind such mischief.
He said the Taksal organized the Khalsa march in connivance with some senior Punjab police officials in reaction to the honoring of Sant Bhindranwal casa martyr at the World Sikh Conference organized by the SGPC.
He said a senior police officer from Amritsar district was instrumental in organizing a meeting between two Taksal leaders and a senior police officer in Chandigarh, The march, which at one stage, was proposed to be banned, was given the green signal as the interests of the Taksal and the government of Sant Bhindranwale and his associates, He said the SGPC might consider dissociating the Taksal from the kar a of Akal Takht.
While defending the honoring of Sant Bhindranwale, an and Amrik Singh, he said they died while defending the Golden Temple complex. Moreover, there was no case registered against them by the police. He said he could have been criticized had he eulogized militants tike Gurbachan Singh Manochahal.
He opposed the use of violence as a political weapon either by the militants or by the government. He main trained that he had never supported violence.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 3, 1995
