Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 18: A meeting of core group of Shiromani Akali Dal National was held under the Chairmanship of S Dayal Singh Wazir, general secretary, wherein it was unanimously urged upon the State Government to formulate a panel of Sikh religious and Legal luminaries to review the Sikh Gurudwara and Religious Endowment Act 1973 as per the Sikh code of conduct and traditions to make it functional and effective.
While presenting his views Dayal Singh said that Act was enacted to provide better, clean and efficient management to all the Gurudwaras in the State and to take care of all the properties and institutions built on it. However, he added, despite many elections and formulation of District Committees and State Boards, the Act has failed miserably and remained non-functional due to many basic lacunas, hence could not achieve the desired results except celebration of Guru’s ceremonies which were also celebrated prior to this Act in a better way.
He alleged that the Act was drafted by certain political people having vested interest in a hush-hush manner without consulting the Sikh community as well as their religious and legal luminaries. The Act has many lacunas which have allowed the non-performers of Sikh code of conduct to contest and win the election and to run Gurudwaras as per their whims and fancies.
He urged upon Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and the Law Minister to formulate a panel of Sikh religious and legal luminaries to review the Sikh Gurudwara and Religious Endowment Act 1973 and the rules framed under it. He appealed the Sikh community and particularly to the intelligentsia and Sikh organizations to rise to the occasion and stress upon the Government for making certain necessary amendments in the Act as per principles of Sikhism to make the Act functional and purposeful otherwise holding of elections under such a defunct Act would be a mere wastage of public energy and Government exchequer.
Prominent among those, who participated in the meeting, included Prof Amrik Singh, Headmaster Harbans Singh, Sewa Singh, Mohinder Singh Mehta, Harinder Singh Sasan, Rajinder Singh, Gurcharan Singh, Master Harnek Singh and Balwant Singh.
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