CHANDIGARH: The SGPC chief, B.S Sibia, dissolved on Saturday the Sikh action committee he had constituted to counter repression in Punjab.
A statement issued here by Sibia said the anti- repression committee had been dis solved following its reported criticism by the Panthic committees of Dr. Sohan Singh and Baba Gurbachan Singh Manochahal which had not been denied. He would not convene any other meeting of the action committee, he said.
The statement released by PTI quoted the SGPC president saying that he had taken the initiative of forming the widely represented committee following the arrest of a number of Sikh leaders and the repressive.
Policies of the government two meetings of Sikh organizations and militant bodies Sere convened at Anandpur Sahib on Aug.11 and Sept1, at which the militant leadership was recognized and their struggle supported.
A spokesman of the SGPC subs office here not aware of the statement. He said Sibia was not at Chandigarh on Saturday and might have sent the statement from outside the city.
Sibia’s decision sets attest his two month efforts to bring Sikh organizations, including Akali factions and militant bodies, on one platform to fight repression in the slate. After the two conclaves at Anandpur Sahib, Sibia had formed the 31member action committee to carry out the decisions of the conclaves, one of which was to boycott the Punjab elections.
The statement said the bandh sponsored by the committee and their rallies at Ludhiana on Sept.24 were successful and had shaken the govt as the Sikh struggle was moving towards its goal. An ultimatum of the Panthic Committee (Dr. Sohan Singh) published in a section of the press had asked him (Mr. Sibia) to dissolve the committee in order to safeguard his SGPC post.
Sibia said similar views of the Panthic committee of Baba Gurbachan Singh Manochahal were also published in a section of the Press. Since no contradiction of the reports had been published subsequently, he was taking the criticism seriously and dissolving the action committee, Denying that the action committee was Constitute for political or personal motives, he said it was meant to forge Panthic unity and oppose govt repression, He had been elected president of the SGPC unanimously and had been turning it to the best of his ability.
The dissolution of the action committee comes in the wake of not only the reported criticism by the Panthic committees but also the general feeling of depression among various Akali leaders over the failure of the Ludhiana rally despite the claim that it was successful.
Among the senior Akali leaders who had gone to Ludhiana to attend the abortive rally were Parkash Singh Badal, G.S Tohra and Jagdev Singh Talwandi. None of them has taken any initiative for another rally since then.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 18, 1991
