In a direct challenge to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), members of its Haryana unit Sunday forcibly took over the Chhevin Patshahi gurdwara in Kurukshetra.

The Haryana unit of the SGPC has been demanding a separate unit for the state for a long time now. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had promised to declare a separate SGPC for Haryana from November 1 if there was no legal hitch to it. But the SGPC had rejected the demand last month.

Jagdish Singh Jhinda, the ad hoc president of the Haryana SGPC, said the Hooda government had failed to provide them justice and the decision to take over the Kurukshetra gurdwara had been taken at an executive committee meeting in Kaithal on August 28. Jhinda said he faced no resistance from the Kurukshetra shrine’s present functionaries.

However, the move does not have the approval of the entire executive committee, with the Didar Singh Nalvi faction saying it had nothing to do with it.

Taking a strong objection to the incident, SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar said it was not only illegal but the Haryana SGPC had also indulged in “maryada hanan (violating dignity)” for which they would be punished. He alleged that Hooda had a hand in the incident. “They entered illegally, broke our locks, removed our staff, even as the district administration watched in silence,” said Makkar.

The Shiromani Akali Dal has announced an urgent meeting of the party’s core committee on September 15 over the issue. Party chief Sukhbir Badal said this was another glaring example of interference of Congress party in the religious affairs of the Skh community.

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