SGPC is blindly following Badals: Sikh groups

Two Sikh groups today expressed their displeasure in  Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) chief issuing warning against those defying an edict excommunicating a former jathedar, saying Avtar Singh Makkar was "blindly" following the "orders" of the Badals.
      
Dal Khalsa (a radical Sikh organization) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Panch Pardhani said Makkar’s tirade against them in matters related to former jathedar Akal Takht Darshan Singh's excommunication, was being "remote-controlled" by the ruling SAD and its leadership.

In a statement here, Dal Khalsa spokesperson Kanwarpal Singh and Harpal Singh Cheema said Makkar’s acts were those of
"sycophancy".

Kanwar also asked the Sikh Sangat not to accept the hukumnama (edict) and called upon the community to liberate the Takhts and the SGPC from the control of the Badals (chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal).

Makkar was taking orders from Badals to keep his post intact, they alleged and said Badal’s wrong policies and approach had resulted in denigration of Sikh institutions.

"Badalisation" of the SGPC was the root cause of the problems Sikhs have been facing, Kanwarpal alleged.

In a statement yesterday, Makkar had warned various Sikh leaders and intellectuals against supporting excommunicated former jathdar and asked them to keep a distance from him.

Darshan Singh was expelled from Sikh fold by Akal Takht Jatehdar Gyani Gurbachan Singh recently over his alleged blasphemous remarks against Tenth Sikh master Guru Gobind Singh.