Haryana action on SGPC provocative: Badal

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal Monday described as "provocative and a brazen interference in the religious affairs of the Sikh community" the action of the Congress government in Haryana in getting a law enacted to set up a separate body for Sikh shrines in that state.

Badal's statement came even as Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia Monday gave his assent to the Haryana Sikh Gurdwaras (Management) Bill, 2014 bill passed by the assembly Friday, paving the way for it to become an Act.

"This action is not only blatantly unconstitutional but is motivated by a desire to fulfil the long standing design of the Congress party to dilute and weaken the spiritual, social and political strength of the Sikh community by seeking to encourage divisions," Badal said in a statement.

Badal urged the central government to intervene in the matter, saying: "Haryana government's action has not only created a constitutional crisis by openly encroaching upon the jurisdiction of parliament but will also inflame passions and hurt the religious sentiments of the millions of Sikh masses all over the world."

He said he could not understand the "desperate urge of the Haryana chief minister to tread upon the Sikh religious territory while his mandate as chief minister is to function as a secular head of government".

"What is his great motive in taking such unusual and unholy interest in the affairs of the Sikhs? Why is he so keen on undoing what people like Jawahar Lal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi have done with regard to the SGPC?

"Has someone not told him that it was against his kind of governmental intervention in Sikh religious affairs that Nehru went to jail during the British regime? And then that was a foreign rule. Is Mr. (Bhupinder Singh) Hooda out to prove that whatever mischief the British were capable of, he is capable too - and worse?" Badal asked.

He warned that the Haryana decision was a potential threat to the peace and communal harmony of the region.

Badal said the Haryana government had treated the constitution with "utter disrespect by piloting a bill which clearly violates constitutional provisions in this regard".

The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) described the bill "a blatant constitutional transgression" and "a brazen interference in Sikh religious affairs".

An SGPC delegation, led by its president Avtar Singh Makkar and Punjab Education Minister Daljit Singh Cheema met the Haryana governor to urge him not to give his assent to the bill.

The delegation urged him to seek clarification regarding the reserving of the bill for presidential assent.