The ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Punjab called off a Sikh conference scheduled for Sunday at the Golden Temple in Amritsar following a directive from the Akal Takht (the highest temporal seat of Sikhs).
The meeting had been convened to protest against the creation of a separate Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (HSGPC) by the Congress government in Haryana.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was expected to resign at the conference and launch a mass agitation.
In his directive issued on Saturday, Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh referred to the clashes in Saharanpur and ordered that the Sunday meet and a meeting of the ad-hoc HSGPC in Karnal on Monday be called off.
“All Sikhs are concerned about what happened in Saharanpur. The Sikh community is facing a new challenge today. In this situation, I order all groups to call off their conventions in Amritsar [Punjab] and Karnal [Haryana],” the Jathedar said.
He said he would call a meeting of Sikh high priests and senior leaders to resolve the dispute over the creation of the HSGPC.
The directive came soon after the Bharatiya Janata Party conveyed to the Akali Dal, an NDA constituent, that it would try to nullify the law enacted by the Haryana government to create the HSGPC. The aim of the separate committee is to manage Sikh shrines in Haryana.
The newly appointed Haryana Governor, Kaptan Singh Solanki, who will take oath of office in Chandigarh on Sunday, indicated that he would review the assent given by his predecessor Jagannath Pahadia.
Welcoming the Akal Takht directive, Punjab BJP chief Kamal Sharma said “such controversial matters should be solved by dialogue and not by taking tough postures”.
Former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh said: “The Akal Takht has acted at the right moment which has led to the easing of the tension.”
