Jalandhar, June 22 (IANS) The Mahila Kisan Union (MKU), a member of the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, has termed the Sikh Gurdwara Amendment Bill as illegal.

The Bill was passed this week by the Punjab Assembly to amend the Central Sikh Gurdwara Act of 1925 in connection with the broadcast of free Gurbani from the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

The union categorically said, "The state government did not have the constitutional right to introduce such an amendment and this illegal amendment would not even get the approval of the Governor.

"Because of this, the political gimmick of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann would prove to be nothing more than a joke."

Stating this in a statement, MKU president Rajwinder Kaur Raju said the Chief Minister should have either consulted the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) before taking any decision regarding telecast of recitation of Gurbani or the Darbar Sahib administration.

She said Mann has been directly interfering under the veil of Gurbani telecast in Gurdwaras' managements, making attempts to disband the SGPC, the highest religious body of Sikhs, a futile attempt by the Aam Aadmi Party leaders to divert people's attention, especially from the demands of the farmers.

The woman leader said the state government could enact a new Gurdwara Act for the state, but it has no constitutional right to amend the central Sikh Gurdwara Act of 1925.

She said the Chief Minister had illegally amended the Gurdwara Act to create administrative problems for the SGPC to administer gurdwaras already controlling in Chandigarh, Himachal and Rajasthan, besides Punjab.

It has made an unprecedented attempt to undermine the authority of the SGPC, the 'mini parliament' of the Sikh panth, to manage and control the gurdwaras to which the Sikh 'qaum' would never forgive him.

--IANS

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