Amarinder supports separate committee for Sikhs in Haryana

Amarinder supports separate committee for Sikhs in Haryana
PTI 22 August 2009, 07:04pm IST

LUDHIANA: Fully supporting Haryana government's move to set up a separate committee for managing Sikh affairs in the state, former Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh on Saturday said the community there had the right to decide about its future.

Early this month, Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had said that a separate body for Sikhs on the lines of SGPC would be set up in the state provided there were no legal hurdles. Later, he said a referendum would also be conducted to help Sikhs take a final call on the issue.

Haryana cabinet though, recommended dissolution of the state Assembly on Friday.

Speaking to media persons after appearing in a local court in Ludhiana, Singh alleged that Akalis themselves earlier divided the Sikh community which has led to such a demand from Haryana's Sikhs.

"Today they (the Akalis) are saying it amounts to dividing Sikhs, but let me remind them that they are the same people who divided the Sikhs and Punjabis decades ago when they launched the Punjabi subha movement," he said.

Amarinder pointed out that it is the democratic right of every Sikh in Haryana to decide whether he wants to remain with the SGPC or set up a separate committee there and rejected the opposition by Punjab chief minister Prakash Singh Badal and SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar over the move.

"Who is Badal or Makkar to decide about that?", he asked. About his party's loss in the recent bypolls on three seats in the state, he said the ruling party used "brute force" to win over the seats.

with thanks : source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/Amarinder-supports-separate-committee-for-Sikhs-in-Haryana/articleshow/4923049.cms

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