The Sikh clergy has rejected the proposed Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (HSGPC). At a meeting of the Sikh High Priests at Akal Takht on Wednesday, the leaders consented to formulating an All-India Gurdwara Act (AIGA) that will bring Sikh shrines across the country under one umbrella.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had earlier expressed reservations against the AIGA, but with other states demanding separate committees — Rajasthan too wants a Sikh body — they seem to have agreed to the new Act.

The Sikh high priests approved the proposition of an Act that will seek amendments to the Sikh Gurdwara Act-1925, which forms the basis of the SGPC controlling gurdwaras in north India. The Act has been a demand of the Sikhs since Independence.

The SGPC had also passed successive resolutions on the demand for an AIGA, but the Akalis took a diverse stand during 1999 when the then head of government-controlled Gurdwara Commission, Harbans Singh, submitted the draft for the Act.

Former SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur had rejected the draft, terming it a “dictate of the Congress”. But with Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh, who chaired Wednesday’s meeting, giving approval to the Act, a new debate is likely to be triggered on the issue.

A section of Sikhs welcomes the AIGA, if approved in Parliament. “Controversies like a separate SGPC are unfortunate and the AIGA is the answer to such unsavoury developments,” said Gurbachan Singh.

He was accompanied by Takht Patna Sahib Jathedar Iqbal Singh, Damdama Sahib Jathedar Balwant Singh Nandgarh, Takht Keshgarh Sahib Jathedar Giani Tarlochan Singh and Golden Temple head priest Bhai Jaswinder Singh at the meeting.

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