:dateline:The Sikh Gurdwara Amendment Bill 2016 was unanimously passed�in the Rajya Sabha during the budget session on March 16. The passage of the bill means that Sehajdhari Sikhs will be denied their�voting rights in SGPC elections.
“There is unanimity to pass the Bill without discussion. I am passing it,” said Deputy Chairman PJ Kurein while passing the bill. �
The cabinet of the union�government had accepted the proposal to amend the 91-year old Sikh Gurdwara Act of 1925 to oust Sehajdhari Sikhs from voting in SGPC elections.��This amendment was made in 2003 by the Home Ministry using powers under section 72 of Punjab Reorganization Act but later it was thrown out�by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on December 20, 2011.
Sehajdhari Sikhs were given the right to vote in SGPC elections in 1944.
*Comment:*
*Gurdwaras will be managed and controlled by Rashtriya Sikh Sangat only hereafter and the amendment (Amendment of 2016) to the Sikh Gurdwara Act of 1925 has been done retrospectively only for this purpose, which is out rightly condemnable as always a serious attack after attack on Sikhs as well as on the spirit and the teachings of �Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji� under the garb of the so-called legislation. Sikh Vichar Manch said. *