Members of the panel constituted by the Akal Takht to oversee the SAD’s restructuring on Tuesday unanimously decided to call the party’s working president Balwinder Singh Bhunder on February 11 to hold discussions over the issue.
The seven-member panel, headed by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) chief Harjinder Singh Dhami, held its maiden meeting at Panth Ratan Jathedar Gurcharan Singh Tohra Institute of Advanced Studies in Sikhism in Patiala.
The move came days after the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) initiated its month-long membership drive after rejecting the Takht-constituted committee, citing legal and constitutional complications in accepting the order.
In a decree on December 2, the temporal seat had asked the committee headed by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) chief Harjinder Singh Dhami to initiate a six-month membership drive, which was to be followed by the party’s restructuring.
The meeting was attended by all seven members, including Dhami.
The other six members are former SGPC chief Kirpal Singh Badungar, Gurpartap Singh Wadala, Iqbal Singh Jhunda, Manpreet Singh Ayali, Santa Singh Umaidpur and Satwant Kaur.
Dhami said the next meeting will be held at the same venue on February 11.
“It was unanimously decided to invite SAD working president Balwinder Singh Bhunder to sit with the seven members for a discussion,” he said.
He appealed to all party leaders to show unity to deal with the prevailing crisis stemming from the party’s rejection of seven-member committee.“I appeal to the Sikhs, especially all leaders and activists (of SAD), to unite so that the community could prosper,” he said.
Wadala said all the committee members were on the same page when it comes to the implementation of the Akal Takht directions.
He said the ongoing membership drive was “deemed to be null and void” as only the Akal Takht committee was entrusted with the responsibility. “Efforts are being made to break the deadlock. We proceeded as per directions of the Akal Takht. Now, we would like to know if the SAD leadership is ready to recognise the authority of the Akal Takht committee and restart the membership drive under its supervision. Bhunder has been invited for a clarification on this point,” he said.
