2/24/2003 5:45:11 PM

Refusing to comment on the sack of Jathedar of Takht Kesgarh Sahib, Prof Manjit Singh, former Chief Minister and SAD chief Parkash Singh Badal today condemned the scuffle in the Golden Temple complex and said that it was “unfortunate and has hurt the sentiments of the people.” Condemning the incident, he alleged that it was a premeditated act on part of the Shiromani Khalsa Panchayat (SKP) activists, who clashed with the taskforce members of the SGPC. The latter were caught unawares since the SKP members were armed and attacked the members who were only performing their duty, he pointed out. He was addressing gathering at the golden jubilee celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College and Polytechnic here today. Also present on the occasion were Akal Takht Jathedar Joginder Singh Vedanti and the SGPC chief Kirpal Singh Badungar. Mr Badal also alleged that the Congress was patronising the SKP and the attack was an indicator of the evil designs of the ruling party to whip up religious sentiments of the masses. We will not let this happen and will expose them in the coming days, he stressed. Commenting on the helmet issue, he said the party was in the process of appealing against the high court directive, which was against the Sikh tenets. The police should desist from challaning Sikh women since they were only following the tenets. The government should not enforce any directives which clash with the religious sentiments of the people, he added. Taking a dig at the Congress on the completion of its first year in office, Mr Badal said the most prominent achievement was that it was a year of sex scandals. No development activity had taken place and the government is at sea about which policies were to be framed to redress the pressing problems facing the state. On elections in Himachal Pradesh, he said he had returned from an extensive tour of the hilly state and claimed that the BJP would be re-elected with a comfortable margin. The campaigning style of the Congress had resulted in unnecessary ill-will and heartburn among people of both neighbouring states, which shared very friendly relations. He, however, refused to comment on the sacking of Prof Manjit Singh as Jathedar of Takht Kesgarh Sahib and said it was an internal matter of the SGPC and only the committee chief was competent to comment on it. Defending the sacking of the Jathedar, Mr Badungar said the “sad and painful” decision was taken after due deliberations and taking into consideration the findings of an inquiry committee, which had investigated allegations of corruption and moral turpitude against Prof Manjit Singh. He, however, firmly refused to divulge the details of the report, terming it as damaging for the community and “maryada” of the Panth. The SGPC chief denied reports in a section of media, which hinted at the pressure exerted by the SKP behind the sack. In fact, the Panchayat had very cordial relations with the former Jathedar, he pointed out. Reacting to a query on allegations of corruption against Jathedar Vedanti, he said the matter was subjudice. Commenting on the Sewa issue, he said it was unfortunate that the two women preferred to highlight the issue in the media instead of registering their compliant with the committee office. He said he had taken up the matter with the Akal takht Jathedar and a final decision in this context would be taken soon. If need be, the views of the Dharam Prachar Committee would be taken, he added. Pointing out that prompt decisions had elicited violent responses in the past, he said it could be recalled that the Sikh community abroad was split down the middle on the langar issue. Similarly, when Prof Manjit Singh had issued a hukumnama on sewa in 1996, similar scenes were witnessed during the tenure of former SGPC chief G.S. Tohra. “It is always advisable to create awareness among the masses instead of issuing edicts in the heat of the moment,” he stressed. He also refuted the statement of the Punjab Police chief M.S. Bhullar that the police had no inkling about the dharna of the SKP. Media reports had been appearing for the past many weeks and if the cops wanted, the agitators could have been rounded up from outside the complex only. This was yet another attempt by the Congress to indirectly interfere in the religious affairs of the Sikhs, he added.