Amarinder flays sacking of scholar Kirpal Singh from Sikh history resources project

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Sunday took strong exception to the SGPC's decision to sack noted Sikh scholar Kirpal Singh as the chairman of the Sikh History Resource Editing Project amid a controversy over the alleged distortion of the community's history in PSEB's class 12 text books.

Amarinder Singh flayed the decision, saying it was clearly taken by the SGPC, the apex religious body of the Sikhs, at the behest of their Akali masters.

Pointing to the timing of the decision, the chief minister termed it as "politically motivated" and accused the Akalis of "indulging in cheap political gimmickry to divert the public attention from their internal crisis.

He said the decision was also aimed at diverting the attention from the "more serious issue of the sacrilege cases, in which the Justice Ranjit Singh (retd) Commission had found them involved."