'Namdhari' sect leaders seek present head's ouster

Some leaders of 'Namdhari sect', also called Kuka, an austere sect within Sikhism, today sought ouster of its present head and his replacement with the wife of the sect's former head.
The Namdhari sect leaders, who are on a chain hunger strike for the last seven days, have proposed that the present head of the sect Thakur Udey Singh should step down and Mata Chand Kaur, wife of late Satguru Jagjit Singh, who died in December 2012, should take over as the sect chief.
She should call a general house meeting (Namdhari Sarvat Khalsa) and there election of the new chief should be done. This was the only solution of unity of Namdhari sect, the leaders said.

This proposal was made by the members of the five-member action committee including Suba Darshan Singh, Dr Harvinder Singh, Dr Sukhdev Singh and Nartej Singh president of the International Namdhari Mission constituted for the purpose of resolving the issue.
Addressing mediapersons here, they said "we are not ready to accept Thakur Udey Singh as supremo of the Namdharis under any conditions."
All these leaders are being considered close to Thakur Dalip Singh, elder brother of the present Namdhari chief Thakur Udey Singh.

These supporters of Thakur Dalip Singh, who was ignored for the top seat of the Namdharis after his father's death, alleged that the appointment of Thakur Udey Singh was a part of a big conspiracy by a "coterie".

They had violated and ignored all norms and traditions which were necessary for the appointment of the new chief after the death of late Satguru Jagjit Singh, the action committee members said.
The prime demand of these Namdhari leaders who had started chain hunger strike in the name of 'Namdhari Unity' is that they should be allowed to pay obeisance at all the Gurudwaras related to Namdharis, including Bhaini Sahib, headquarters of Namdharis, here.
According to them, whoever from amongst the followers of Thakur Dalip Singh goes for worship there, is either harassed, humiliated or forcibly removed by the police or Sevadars.