SC setback for Sehejdharis: SGPC can elect office bearers

The Sehajdharis suffered a major setback on Friday after the Supreme Court stayed an order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court wherein it had quashed a central government’s notification (in October, 2003) barring the Sehajdhari Sikhs from voting in the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee (SGPC) elections.

The apex court said that the SGPC, considered the Mini-Parliament of Sikhs, can carry out its functions normally. Days after the High Court judgment, the Sehajdhari Sikh Party (SSP) had demanded fresh SGPC elections stating that the Sehajdharis be allowed to cast their votes.

After the temporary relief from Supreme Court, SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar said that they would now wait for the Ministry of Home to issue a notification pertaining to the election of the office bearers of SGPC.

“We now look forward to Home Ministry to issue notification for the election of office bearers,” Makkar said.

The SC directions today paved the way for 185-member body to elect its 11 member executive body, besides the president, senior vice-president, vice-president and general secretary.

A question mark over the newly formed SGPC had arisen after the Punjab and Haryana High court had restored the voting rights of Sehajdhari Sikhs quashing the 2003 notification by the Union government that barred Sehajdhari Sikhs from voting in SGPC polls.

with thanks : IndianExpress : link in the headline above for detailed news.

HC to hear next week plea on DSGMC polls

New Delhi, Feb 17 (PTI) The Delhi High Court today decided to hear next week the city government's plea against the single judge's order virtually staying the elections of Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee due in March. A division bench of Acting Chief Justice A K Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahi Endlaw fixed Tuesday to hear the appeal of Directorate of Gurudwara Elections (DGE) against the single judge's order asking it to complete the exercise of delimitation of area of 46 wards in a month and restraining it from issuing notification for the elections. Filing the petition through counsel Rajiv Nanda, the government said the single judge has no right to pass such order once the Directorate has declared the schedule for the polls. The lawyer also argued that the exercise for delimitation would take long time and that it could be done after the elections. Giving the order to the DGE on February 8, the court had also directed it to complete the exercise with regard to the electoral rolls within a month before issuing the notification for the Sikh body's polls. The court had passed the order on a petition filed by Harmohan Singh, who wanted to contest the elections, alleging that the Directorate has announced the schedule for the elections and the notification was yet to be issued. "The elections of DSGMC on the basis of incomplete list of voters and without delimitation of wards will cause unfair representation of the members from each ward," the petitioner said. He contended that number of duplicate voters have been mentioned and said non-Sikh persons also figured in the voters' list.

with thanks : IBNLive : link in the headline above.

Sant Samagam

13-year-old boy pens book on Sikh religion and tenets

A 13-year old Sikh boy from Surrey in Canada has penned down a book on Sikh tenets and Sikh religion, perhaps becoming the first writer of his age to write on the topic.

Introduction to Sikhism, the book in English by Bikramjit Singh Bains was released on Thursday by Akal Takht chief Giani Gurbachan Singh in Amritsar. The Akal Takht chief was all praise for the big initiative at a small age by the young writer. Bikramjit is the grandson of noted Encyclopaedist Dr Raghbir Singh Bains, who has to his credit writing the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism.

Bikramjit started work on his book when he was 10 on the occasion of Baisakhi in April, 2009. He got so inspired with the Sikh tenets as he researched for the contents that he got baptised (became an Amritdhari Sikh) in Surrey last year, amid carrying out the task of completing the book.

with thanks : Indian Express : link in the headline for detailed news.

Furnish details of 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims: MHA

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked the state government to furnish details about victims of 1984 anti-Sikh riots that broke out across the states following the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

The joint secretary of MHA, KK Pathak, shot a letter to the state government seeking information on the victims of the riots and whether compensation has been awarded to them. A senior state home department official said the letter was sent in connection to a question asked by a Rajya Sabha MP who wants to know the progress made in the “implementation of rehabilitation package to provide relief to the victims of riots.”

According to reports with the state disaster management department, West Bengal has recorded six deaths during the anti-Sikh riots and all of whom have been compensated. A total of 68 claims for compensation had been submitted to the state government of which 36 persons have received compensation from both the Centre and the state governments. The remaining applications have been turned down by the Centre, the official said.

with thanks : IndianExpress : link in headline above for detailed news.

Sehajdhari issue: Apex Court passes judgement in favour of SGPC

DELHI: The Sehajdhari Sikh Party suffered a major setback in the SGPC row over Sehajdhari Sikh issue. The Apex Court has given a stay order on the judgement of Punjab and Haryana High Court where the Hon’ble full bench headed by Justice Surya Kant had quashed the notification dated 8/10/2003 by which the Sehajdhari Sikhs were debarred from their voting right.

 

The Apex Court said that premier Sikh body can carry out its functions normally. After the High Court judgement the Sehajdhari Sikh Party had demanded fresh SGPC elections in which the Sehajdharis be allowed to cast their their votes. 

 

The SGPC secretary Dalmegh Singh had filed a SLP in the Supreme Court challenging the High Court judgement. The National President of the Sehajdhari Sikh Party Dr.P.S.Ranu had earlier stated that the Secretary of the SGPC is not a valid authority to file the SLP in Sehajdhari case because the SGPC is a body corporate and all body corporates can only speak through resolutions as it is upheld in the Punjab & Haryana High Court in a Judgement of Justice Liberhan in case of “ Sadhu v/s Gram Panchayat of Village Akalian:- Pleading-Suit against Corporate body-Corporates are not living persons and can speak only through  esolutions. In absence of a resolution authorising a particular person to act or to conduct or to defend case, that  act or deed shall be deemed to be without any authority and the act or result of the case cannot be binding on the corporate body.”

with thanks : punjabnewsline : link in the headline above.

Filming plight of destitute Sikhs

A filmmaker has returned from Afghanistan after filming a documentary to highlight the country's segregated Sikh society.

Bobby Singh, of Syston, flew to Kabul in January to shoot a documentary about the Gudwara Har Rai Sahib – a Sikh temple which has become home to about 1,000 displaced people.

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The historic place of worship is riddled with thousands of bullet holes from US and Taliban fighters.

Writer Bobby, 43, spent a week with a film crew from Birmingham television channel Sikh TV.

with thanks : thisisleicestershire : link in headline above for detailed news report.

Tejkhera incident has hurt Sikh community: Makkar

Amritsar, Feb 15 (PTI) SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar today said an incident of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib took place in Tejkhera area in Rajasthan and an SGPC team was sent there to look into it. The incident had hurt sentiments of the Sikh community, he said. Giving details, Makkar said some unscrupulous elements threw two Saroops of Guru Granth Sahib (the holy books of Sikhs) at Tejkhera in the stagnant water recently. The SGPC team retrieved the Saroops and reported the matter to police. Police had registered a criminal case in this connection, Makkar said.

with thanks : IBNLive : Link in headline above.

1984 Sikh riots: Release of accused stayed

New Delhi: Delhi Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna has reversed a decision of commuting life sentence of a convict in 1984 anti-Sikh riots case and asked Delhi's Sentence Review Board to give it a relook following protests by a section of Sikh community.

The decision to send the case again to State Review Board was taken following opposition by a section of Sikh community to the decision to commute life sentence of Kishori Lal, 48, a former butcher from Trilokpuri in East Delhi who was accused of stabbing to death several people in the neighbourhood during the riots.

"The State Review Board has been asked by the Lt Governor to review the Lal's case again," sources said on Wednesday.

Lal had been sentenced to death in at least five cases by the lower courts.

with thanks : IBNLive : Link in headline for detailed news.

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http://ibnlive.in.com/news/1984-sikh-riots-release-of-accused-stayed/230613-3.html

Butcher of Trilokpuri’ set free; AISSF rushes to court

A day after the media reported that Delhi Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) Tejendra Khanna has commuted the life sentence of Kishori Lal (48), convicted of multiple murders in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi, the All India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) announced to file a PIL before Delhi High Court challenging the move.

Khanna, acting on the recommendations of the state Sentence Review Board (SRB), recently commuted the sentence of Lal, who had earned the sobriquet Butcher of Trilokpuri after he allegedly killed several people, and 14 other life convicts.

Karnail Singh Peermohammad, president, AISSF, said that commuting Lal’s sentence would amount to another injustice to the victims of 1984 Sikh massacre. “The PIL will be based on the ground that commutation and release of such a hardened criminal, who murdered several Sikhs including three brothers Darshan Singh, Amar Singh and Nirmal Singh, by cutting them into pieces with his hatchet, will pose a threat to the safety of the witnesses who testified against him,” Peermohammad said.

“Commuting the sentence of Kishori Lal who murdered several sikhs in cold blood would amount to another injustice to the victims of November 1984 Sikh massacre. Kishori Lal’s sentence is commuted at time when victims of November 1984 are fighting against the Clean Chit given to Jagdish Tytler and are trying to get Sajjan Kumar convicted,” remarked Peermohammad.

with thanks : Indian Express : link in headline for detailed news.

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