4/7/2003 10:24:06 AM

The General Election to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) due in October 2001 is now likely to be held in early 2004, if the pace of poll process set in motion by the Gurdwara Election Commission is any indication. The commission had reviewed the progress with all deputy commissioners at Ludhiana on Friday. There are two basic reasons why the elections to 170-member SGPC general house have been delayed. One, that the “Sehajdhari’’ Sikhs should not be given the right to vote; two, the age of eligible voters should be reduced to 18 years from 21 years. Yet another reason for the delay is “low turnout of voters’’ besides the indecisiveness of the powers that be. The controversy over the inclusion or exclusion of “Sehajdhari’’ voters has come centre-stage because of an ambiguity in the very definition of the word “Sikh’’. As per Clause 10-A of the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925, a “Sehajdhari’’ means, 1. a person who performs ceremonies according to Sikh rites; 2. who does not use tobacco or ‘kutha’ (halal meat) in any form; 3. who is not a ‘patit’; and 4. who can recite ‘Mul Mantar’. There are 120 constituencies of the SGPC, with 110 spread over Punjab, eight in Haryana, and one each in Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh. There are 50 double-member constituencies out of which 20 are reserved for Scheduled Castes and 30 for women. Of the 30 reserved for women, five are for Scheduled Caste women. Thus, the total number of elected members is 170. Add to this the 15 coopted members and six head priests, making a total of 191. Ironically, the SGPC, despite several resolutions has failed to move the Centre to amend the Act and deny the right to vote to “Sehajdhari’’ Sikhs or lower voting age to 18 years from 21 years. This issue of “Sehajdhari’’ Sikhs has been in the centre of controversy since 1995. And, in the absence of consensus among the Sikhs, as to who is or who is not eligible to vote, the Union Home Ministry even held deliberations with the state government, SGPC and Akali Dal factions. Thereafter, it sent the signal that SGPC elections be held as per the existing provisions of the Act, since the term of the present House had ended in October 2001. The SGPC elections held in 1996, the number of “Sehajdhari’’ voters was 6,33,495 out of the total 36,23,974. Leaders of various Akali factions apprehend that “non-Sikhs’’ posing as “Sehajdharis’’, will get themselves registered as voters and thereby, usurp the SGPC and also pose a threat to their own leadership. The Gurdwara Election Commission had initiated the process of holding the SGPC elections much before the expiry of the term in October 2001. In the wake of a poor response of Sikh voters to get themselves enrolled, the commission had to repeatedly extend the date for enrolment. Reports say that the number of Sikh votes has gone down in Chandigarh, which has one constituency, while, there is some increase in the voters in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, whereas, in Punjab there is only a marginal increase. At the Friday meeting, it was reported that in some districts the “Sehajdhari’’ voters outnumbered the “Keshadhari’’ voters. These include Nawanshahr, Muktsar, Ferozepore Fazilka-Abohar area and Sangrur (Moonak, Sunam area). Therefore, whatever reasons or political motives the Akali leaders may attribute to one another, the fact is all Sikh organisations and institutions are to be equally blamed for their lackadaisical attitude towards the SGPC elections. Now draft rolls are under print and will be displayed at specific places and objections/claims invited and heard. This process will last till October-end. Thus the elections would be possible in January-February 2004