Captain takes a dig at Makkar
Wednesday, 25/06/2014
http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=108488&boxid=58996&uid=&dat=2014-06-25
Amritsar : Former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Tuesday took a dig at Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee (SGPC) president Avtar Singh Makkar over the formation of separate SGPC for Haryana.
Ridiculing the claims of Makkar that he (Amarinder) was seeking a separate Haryana body to weaken and undermine the authority of SGPC in Punjab, Capt Amarinder remarked, “Everybody in and outside Punjab, knows how strong and powerful SGPC is and what it has been reduced to by your boss and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.”
The former Chief Minister, who represents Amritsar parliamentary constituency, told Makkar that he understood his (Makkar’s) compulsions to oppose Haryana body as he cannot afford to do otherwise. “And that is precisely why we support an independent body for managing the Sikh Gurdwaras in Haryana which will not be remote controlled by the Badals and nor it has president like you”, he remarked, while reminding him, “It was people like Badal who got Haryana separated from Punjab and now why should Sikhs there not have the right and authority to run and manage their own gurdwaras?”
Capt Amarinder suggested to the SGPC chief that he must also understand the popular sentiment and not take the diktats from the Badals. “Your time is already up as Badal is surely going to replace you sooner than later so it is time for you to set a healthy precedent and assert independence and authority of such a great and powerful institution like the SGPC”, he advised Makkar. He firther said, “History, I assure you, will remember you for that one single act of courage and bravery and it will certainly forgive all your meek acts of unquestioning submission to Badals in the past.”
