National parties trying to weaken SAD, says Sukhbir

Faridkot : Claiming that national parties were trying to weaken the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), party president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday indirectly targeted its former ally --- the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) ---alleging that a separate gurdwara committee was created for Haryana and even the Delhi committee was given into the hands of anti-SAD forces.

Addressing a gathering at Takhtupura in Moga district, Sukhbir said: “They have started encroaching on your gurughars (gurdwaras) for which even Britishers had no courage. The forces which don’t even know anything about Sikhi have taken control of the gurdwara management committees of Delhi, Takht Shri Hazur Sahib and Takht Patna Sahib, besides creating a separate body for Haryana.”

Sukhbir urged Punjabis to strengthen the SAD to strengthen Punjab. He said the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had destroyed Punjab.

Last year, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government had constituted the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) to manage gurdwaras in the state, following a Supreme Court order upholding its validity. After 2022 assembly election, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Commitee (DSGMC) president Harmeet Singh Kalka had disassociated himself from the SAD and formed a separate party along with elected members of the gurudwara management committee.

“The Bhagwant Mann government has not only pushed the state into the debt trap by taking a loan of ₹60,000 crore, but has also failed to maintain law and order in the state. Industry is moving out of Punjab to Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh even as youth are being denied jobs as these are being given to outsiders,” Sukhbir alleged.