PATIALA: The executive committee of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee in its meeting held here on Thursday in Gurdwara Dukhinwaran Sahib decided to launch an agitation for the solution of the Punjab problem and to get the arrested Akali leaders released,

There was a difference of opinion among the members of the SGPC executive when to stat the agitation. Some of the members wanted to announce the date of the agitation immediately but others wanted to defer it for some days.

According to the Akali Dal sources, the members of the executive committee after having a

Prolonged discussion of the issue, decided to announce the next course of action on the Hola Mohalla at Anandpur Sahib being held from March 18.

Unlike the previous Akali Dal conferences held at the historic places of Fategarh Sahib and Mukstar where the different Akali factions had organized their parallel and separate conferences, the executive committee of the SGPC gave a call that all the Panthic organizations should organize a “united conference” in order to give a new direction to the Sikh affairs.

It may be mentioned here that the members of the SGPC executive led by Major Singh, Uboke, acting President of the SGPC, met Gurcharan Singh Tohra, president of the SGPC and Simranjit Singh

Mann, president of the Akai Dal (Mann) on Thursday in the Nidampur rest house where they are detained and discussed the latest political situation of the state following the Punjab elections.

Speaking on behalf of the SGPC and the six Pantie organizations Major Singh Uboke said that the present council of ministers led by Beant Singh could not claim the mandate of the people of the state as the majority of the voters had boycotted it,

Uboke said that the people of Punjab and particularly the Sikhs could not recognize the Punjab government led by the Chief “Minister, Beant Singh it was not representative in character and without any popular mandate.

By a resolution, the executive committee of the SGPC endorsed the poll boycott for which the Panthic organizations had given call and hailed the poll boycott by the people of Punjab and lauded their courage to follow the call of the Panthic organizations despite the threat of the Army and the prep-military forces.

Article extracted from this publication >> March 13, 1992