‘Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Act amendment could disturb peace’

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Saturday warned that the move to amend the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Act-1971 could disturb the hard-earned peace of the state and asked the Congress leadership "to refrain from playing with fire".

"The proposed move to amend the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Act-1971 by Congress government in Delhi is a testimony to the fact that Congress is meddling in religious affairs of Sikhs, thereby inciting their religious passions, which can never be tolerated," Badal said while speaking to mediapersons after inaugurating the Punjab Institute of Technology here.

He alleged that in the past as well, due to such "misdeeds" of he Congress, the state had felt the brunt of terrorism. "However, Congress leaders have hardly learnt any lesson from the past and they were hurting the sentiments of Sikhs by fanning such proposals," he said, adding that he will soon meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde to seek their immediate intervention in the matter.

SAD has opposed the proposed amendment in the Act, which provides for direct election to the post of president.

Meanwhile, while commenting on recent visits of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to the state, Badal said that rather than introspecting about the reasons behind his party's defeat in Punjab, Rahul should peep into his conscience and find out why his party was neck-deep in corruption at the national level.

Addressing a gathering held in the memory of Sant Kartar Singh Khalsa at Bhura Kona village, Badal said: "Rahul must remember that the sole reason of the Congress debacle in every poll was that the countrymen were fed up due to the anti-poor policies and rampant corruption of the UPA government... Rahul Gandhi's frequent visits to the state will hardly make any impact on Punjab's political scenario. The SAD-BJP alliance will win all the 13 seats in 2014 Lok

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