Activists blame Akal Takht for going slow on 2012 edict

Abohar, Punjab: The Bhai Bulaka Singh Sangharsh Morcha today launched a stir against Gurdwara Buddha Johad Trust in Raisinghnagar segment of Sriganganagar in Rajasthan. They blamed Akal Takht for the slow implementation of the edict announced on October 1, 2012 to dissolve all gurdwara trusts.

Addressing media persons at Sriganganagar, morcha convener Hardeep Singh Dibdiba urged Akal Takht to convene a meeting of all the gurdwara managing committees of Sriganganagar, Hanumangarh and Bikaner at Buddha Johad to evolve an acceptable formula to run historic gurdwaras.

Dibdiba, who had founded Rajasthan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee in 2001, but could not get approval from the state government, demanded that the trusts, which run gurdwaras in Sriganganagar, Patna and Nanded, should also be dissolved in compliance with the October, 2012 edict.

He said that the edict was first implemented for Buddha Johad gurdwara management, but the 11-member ad hoc committee, constituted by Akal Takht in June last year, had not been able to conduct new elections to run the gurdwara.

“We fail to understand where was the need of excommunicating Baldev Singh Brar, whose father Gurjant Singh Brar, BJP MLA, has had a long association with the ruling Badals, now when the Trust stands dissolved,” Dibdiba said. Dibdiba said the morcha had demanded action against Baldev in 2012.

“We have reasons to believe that the Takht’s decisions are broadly influenced by the SGPC leadership and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. By excommunicating Baldev Brar now, the Akal Takht has complicated the issue rather than resolving it,” he said.

Dibdiba criticised the Gurdwara Buddha Johad trust members for misleading Sikhs in the region and claimed that the edicts issued by Akal Takht were final and binding on all. Hari Singh, Jasbir Singh and Mohinder Singh were also present at the meeting.

                                                                  The matter at hand

• Hardeep Dibdiba, who founded Rajasthan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee in 2001, urged Akal Takht to evolve an acceptable formula to run historic gurdwaras
• He demanded that the trusts, which run gurdwaras in Sriganganagar, Patna and Nanded, should also be dissolved in compliance with the October 2012 edict

Source: The Tribune