Akal Takht steps in, Sikh leaders call off congregation

Congregations of Sikhs here and in Karnal against the formation of a separate Gurdwara Management Committee in Haryana were today called off after the Akal Takht's intervention but Haryana Sikhs today went ahead with the election of office-bearers for the ad-hoc committee.
In a bid to defuse the situation, the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs, stepped in by directing calling off all Sikh congregations planned by ruling Akali Dal here tomorrow and in Karnal on Monday against Haryana's decision to create a separate committee to manage Gurdwaras in the state.
Governor-designate Kaptan Singh Solanki, who is tipped to be sworn-in in a day or two, said he would look into the whole issue once he takes over but his personal opinion was that the Centre's directive against Haryana government's new law "must be obeyed".

As tensions mounted, Jathedar Akal Takht Giani Gurbachan Singh issued a directive to all Sikhs of Haryana, the ruling SAD (Badal) and the entire Sikh community not to hold any kind rally or convention tomorrow in Amritsar and in Karnal on Monday by Haryana-based Sikh leaders that could lead to further tension.
Punjab's ruling Akali Dal and Haryana Sikhs subsequently announced calling off their respective conventions which were scheduled to be held at Amritsar and Karnal.
Meanwhile, a congregation of Haryana Sikhs in Kurukshetra elected Jagdish Singh Jhinda and Didar Singh Nalvi, who spearheaded the movement for formation of separate SGPC for the state, as the President and Senior Vice President respectively of the newly notified 41-member ad-hoc HSGPC.