KURUKSHETRA, Haryana—The Indian Government’s appeal to the Supreme Court to quash the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management (HSGM) Act has shocked the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) (Ad hoc).
In a statement, HSGMC (Ad hoc) president Jagdish Singh Jhinda has said that the decision taken by the the Modi government is totally wrong and unfortunate. He said the committee had met central Home Minister Rajnath Singh who had given us positive signs in this regard but the recent step taken by the government was unexpected.
“The decision taken by the Central Government has come as a big setback for Haryana Sikhs. The interests of Sikhs from the state have been ignored and it suggests that the Centre is under tremendous pressure from Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Badal”, alleged Jhinda.
He said, “A general body meeting will be held to discuss whether to meet Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar or Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. The next hearing of the case is on March 9 in the Supreme Court”
Harbhajan Singh Masana, who filed the PIL challenging the Act, said, “The Congress government passed the HSGM Act just to get political advantage and it was totally illegal following which I filed the PIL in the Supreme Court. Now the Central Government too has filed an affidavit in the SC and made its stand clear, we welcome the Centre’s decision.” The state Assembly had passed the HSGM Act in July, 2014, and Masana had filed the PIL against it in August, 2014.
