JALANDHAR: A four member delegation of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is submitting a petition suggesting changes in the Sikh Gurdwara ‘Act. 1925 before the Minorities Commission of India.

The delegation, comprising Mr. Kuldip Singh Wadala, Mr, Surjan Singh Thekedar, Mr. Prem Singh Chandumajra and Mr, Basant Singh Khalsa, will be going to Delhi shortly, where they will oppose many of the amendments to the Act proposed by Mr. Simranjit Singh Mann,

Disclosing this, Mr. Kuldip Singh Wadala, senior vice-president of the SAD said that the party is giving these suggestions in response to a communication from the commission seeking its views.

The commission has already received suggestions for amendments to the Act from Mr, Mann following which it has asked the SAD, too, to give its opinion. Outlining the suggestions, Mr. Wadala said that the SAD will be opposing Mr. Mann’s ‘suggestion that the voting age for the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) should be lowered from the existing 21 years to 18 years, he said that his party was of the view that since SGPC elections area religious voice requiring mature views, which is unlike a normal franchise, lowering of the voting age is not desirable, The party has also decided to oppose the idea of reservation for women in the SGPC house as suggested by Mr. Mann. The SAD leadership is understood to be of the view that there 1st no discrimination against women in the Sikh faith, and contesting of elections should be one to all Beside this the SAD will be recommending reservation for Sahejdhari is (clean shaven people who believe in the principles of Sikhism), Mr. Wadala said that S A D  concerned at the large-scale enrollment of Sahejdhari voters for the SGPC elections who he alleged are Congress supporters. In view of this, he said it was imperative that there was reservation for them in the SGPC house, according to their percentage of representation or the SGPC general house should be given the power to coopt a fixed number of Sahejdhari members in the house. “The Sikh faith is open to all persons who believe in its principles and want to practice it, but we want to ensure that this is not misused by certain people,” he added: ‘The other suggestions of the party are deletion of Clause 294 allowing government interference in the affairs of the AGPC and time bound elections to the SGPC. It is learnt that the SGPC president, Mr. Gurcharan Singh Tohra and Mr, Sukhjinder Singh, member of the SAD executive com.

Meanwhile, Mr. Wadala alleged that the whole exercise to invite views from Sikh organizations on the issue is merely a “tactical line” adopted to delay the SGPC elections. He said that raising this issue would only delay matters as any amendment in the act will be a time-consuming process. The All India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) led by Mr. Harminder ‘Singh Gill, in a press statement said here Nov. 20th, said that  he federation would participate in the mean called by Minority Commission of India to discuss necessary amendments in Gurdwara Act.

Article extracted from this publication >> November 24, 1995