AMRITSAR: A significant aspect of the annual S.G.P.C. election last week was the nomination 9f militant baiter Harcharan Singh Dlli” by the Akali Dal (Mann) soup as its candidate.
Dilli was badly defeated at the hands of Gurcharan Singh Tohra. The latter got 91 votes as against Dills six. Tohra was declared elected for the 18th term replacing Baldev Singh Sibia.
Harcharan Singh Dilli’s nomination by the Mann Dal caused many an eyebrow to be raised as he was the one who had, about five years ago, made bitter criticism of Sikh militants describing them as blood thirsty. Dilli had also “offered” his own blood to the militants and had asked them to identify a place and appoint time so that he could go there to offer blood to them.
Tohra in his speech soon after his election stated that he had accepted the post as he was pressurized by members to do so. Otherwise, he said, he had no intention of becoming President of SGPC again. Also, he said, he had earlier made a public announcement not to accept this post again. But most members’ threat ended that they would not attend the election meeting if they did not accept the post again, that forced him to relent.
Another point the Akali leader made was that he was trying to ensure the very existence of the. S.G.P.C. as a Sikh institution which faced threat of liquidation. He asked the government to hold the overdue election to this institution, the last election was held in 1979. Under the statue the S.G.P.C. Election should be held after every five years.
A question mark on the continuance of Harinder Singh Khalsa as secretary of S.G.P.C. arose as he had at one time rejected with contempt an offer by Tohra for appointment as secretary of Guru Nanak Engineering College, Ludhiana, trust. Khalsa’s appointment as secretary was made by outgoing S.G.P.C. chief Sibia.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 22, 1991
