Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee President Capt Amarinder Singh on Sunday asked Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal to clarify their stand on Sehajdhari Sikhs. Reacting to Sukhbirs statement,Amarinder said: You tell the people of Punjab whether you consider them Sikhs or not and if yes,why are you opposed to their voting rights for SGPC? Otherwise,why should they first ask questions and answer these themselves. He added: First they wanted a CBI inquiry into the Sehajdhari voting issue and when I endorsed their demand,they are asking me to use my influence to get a judicial probe conducted. Why should I as it is you who wanted a probe and I endorsed it. At the same time,he said: I will welcome the judicial probe provided it probes the role of all me,Badal and Sukhbir to find out the truth. Let Badal write and recommend to the prime minister to appoint a judicial commission for that. Speaking on the issue of voting rights for Sehajdharis,Amarinder said that SGPC is the apex parliament of Sikhs. How can you claim to represent the apex parliament when you deny more than half of Sikh voters their franchise? he asked,while pointing out out of the 1.22 crore total Sikh voters,62 lakh have been excluded from SGPC elections on the pretext of being Sehajdharis and others. Saying that Sukhbir and the CM were not the sole guardians of the Sikh community,Amarinder said: Do you mean the only Sikhs in Punjab are those who vote for you? You cant survive for a long time in the security of your parochial cocoon you are living in.
