More than 25 lakh forms filled during signature campaign will be submitted to Governor
Legal notice sent to those who created false narratives about the Sikh state flag – Advocate Dhami
Important decisions taken by the Inner Committee of the Shiromani Committee regarding Sikh affairs
Amritsar, April 10-
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has decided to conclude the signature campaign started on December 1, 2022, for the release of Bandi Singhs (Sikh prisoners) lodged in different jails of the country, on the occasion of Khalsa Sajna Diwas (Baisakhi). Apart from this, several important decisions were also taken by the SGPC executive committee (EC) meeting held at the SGPC office in Amritsar today under the leadership of Harjinder Singh Dhami.
Speaking to media after the meeting, SGPC President Harjinder Singh Dhami said that under the signature campaign launched by SGPC for the release of Bandi Singhs, more than 25 lakh forms have been filled so far, which will be collected and sent to President of India via Governor of Punjab in near future.
Harjinder Singh Dhami said the EC has also decided that a day before handing over the filled forms to the Governor, an Ardas (Sikh prayer) congregation will be held at Sri Akal Takht Sahib. He said the Jathedars of the Takhts will also be present during this event. He said that SGPC officials have been ordered to take an appointment for a meeting from the Governor of Punjab and upon getting the time, the SGPC EC office-bearers and SGPC members will go to hand over the filled forms and a memorandum.
SGPC President said the EC has also given approval to award scholarships for the year 2023-24 to Amritdhari (initiated) students studying in the educational institutions of the SGPC. He said that scholarships worth crores are awarded to Amritdhari students every year under this scheme. The scholarships include Rs 3,500 for students of Class VI to X, Rs 5,000 for Class XI to XII, Rs 8,000 for graduate level and Rs 10,000 for post graduation.
He said that the SGPC is also working at the ground level to prepare Sikh youths for competitive examinations of UPSC, PPSC, etc., under which, 11 Sikh candidates have been selected for the first batch of Nishchai Civil Services Coaching Academy opened for this purpose. For being part of the first batch, a total of 167 candidates had appeared in the written exam, after which 11 Sikh candidates had been selected during the three-stage selection process which included two interviews also. He also said that applications will be called again, so that more candidates can prepare for competitive exams in SGPC’s academy as it had announced to prepare 25 Sikh candidates.
He said the SGPC EC has also decided to give a 3% dearness allowance to the SGPC employees.
Meanwhile, Harjinder Singh Dhami also revealed the legal action taken by the SGPC on the order of Jathedar, Sri Akal Takht Sahib, against the false propaganda of presenting the flag of Sarkar-e-Khalsa of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Sikh Raj (rule) and the court of arms of Sikh princely states as separatist material during the arrest of youths by the government and police administration of Punjab in the recent past.
SGPC President said that a legal notice has been served to the senior superintendent of police (SSP) Khanna, who wrongly presented the flag of Sikh state of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the court of arms of the Sikh princely states, found in the phone of arrested youth, as separatist material. Along with this, notices have also been served to some media channels for tarnishing the image of Sikhs by presenting wrong information in this regard.
He also said that a public appeal has been made by the SGPC to obtain information for pursuing the cases of innocent youths arrested by the Punjab police. Many people have sent the required information to the Sikh body and the SGPC is continuously working in this regard. He said that the legal team of the SGPC is also working at the local level to pursue the cases of youths who were arrested from Punjab and imprisoned in Dibrugarh, Assam.
Present in the meeting included SGPC senior vice president Baldev Singh Qaimpur, junior-vice president Avtar Singh Raya, general secretary Bhai Gurcharan Singh Grewal, EC members Jarnail Singh Kartarpur, Surjit Singh Tughalwal, Bawa Singh Gumanpura, Gurnam Singh Jassal, Paramjit Singh Khalsa, Sher Singh Mandwala, Baba Gurpreet Singh Randhawa and Malkit Singh Changal, SGPC secretary Partap Singh, OSD Satbir Singh Dhami, additional secretaries Sukhminder Singh, Kulwinder Singh Ramdas, Gurinder Singh Mathrewal, and Simarjit Singh, assistant secretary Gurdial Singh, Gurcharan Singh Kuhala, and Shahbaz Singh, superintendent Malkeet Singh Beharwal, in-charge Gurnam Singh, Balwinder Singh Khairabad, Tarsem Singh Gill, Gurpratap Singh Masani and others.