Nearly half a century after Punjab was split up into separate states, the government of Haryana has decided to take control of the Sikh gurdwaras in the state, which have been overseen for all these decades by the powerful Amritsar-based religious body, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.
The move comes just before Assembly elections in Haryana. The state government’s decision to establish a separate gurdwara committee has set off a firestorm with all the elements of a major struggle in modern India: religious infighting, political wrangling, centre-state differences and even references to British divide-and-rule tactics.
What is the problem?
Earlier in the month, the Haryana Assembly passed legislation that would give a newly constituted body control of the state’s gurdwaras, which had, until then, been in the hands of the SGPC.
The SGPC, which was established in the early 1920s, is one of the primary organisations of Sikh religious leadership. It is dominated by members of the Shiromani Akali Dal, a political party that actually began life as a political wing of the SGPC. The SAD has always portrayed itself as the representative party of the Sikhs. The Akali Dal is also currently the ruling party in Punjab.
As one might expect, the Akalis and the SGPC haven’t taken well to the decision of the Haryana government, which is run by the rival Congress. Although Haryana was carved out of Punjab because it is a Hindu majority state with a different language, it still features the second-largest Sikh population in the country.
By setting up a separate committee to control Haryana’s gurdwaras, the government is cutting off a direct conduit that the Akalis had to Sikhs in Haryana, and an important source of revenue. The Akalis argue that this is an attempt to meddle in internal Sikh affairs.
“This ill-conceived move is aimed at dividing the Sikhs on the one hand and destabilising the Sikh panth on the other,” Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said, after the Haryana government passed the legislation, “Haryana Congress is following the footsteps of the erstwhile British government, who appointed their stooges to run the affairs of the gurdwaras in the pre-SGPC period.”
Why did Haryana pass the law?
There has been a demand from Haryana’s Sikhs for some time now to have a separate body to oversee gurudwaras in their state, although the call was not necessarily to split completely from the SGPC. Delhi, for example, has a separate gurdwara management committee that includes a representative from the SGPC.
The demand comes from the belief that the SGPC has always treated Haryana’s Sikhs unfairly, taking money from the offerings that are given there but piling all the funds into Punjab. The calls were enough for the Haryana Congress to put the promise of setting up a separate committee on its manifesto in 2005.
“Some kind of responsibility runs with the SGPC, especially when it comes to talk of step-brotherly treatment with Haryana,” said Ashutosh Kumar, a professor of Indian politics at Punjab University. “Compare how many colleges there are in Punjab and how many in Haryana, and things like that, and it becomes clear. Also note, there haven’t been popular protests on the part of Sikhs in Haryana against this move, so it’s clear that some responsibility does lie with the SGPC.”
The move also has legal backing. When Haryana was carved out of Punjab, the legislation that made the change a reality, the Punjab States Re-organisation Act, also gave the new state the option of setting up its own gurdwara management committee if it felt the need to do so.
Additionally, with elections expected in October, the Congress government is no doubt hoping that it will get some electoral reward for giving Sikhs in the state independence from an organisation that is dominated by Punjabis.
Do the Akalis have a point?
The Badals have argued that the Haryana government is needlessly meddling in internal Sikh affairs in an attempt to divide the religion. With the long Akali history of fighting for Sikh causes, they certainly have reason to preserve the order that they set up.
“You can’t really dismiss the claims that the Akalis have on the SGPC,” said Nonica Datta, a professor of history at Miranda House College, Delhi University, who is working on a book about Punjab. “The connection goes back to the early part of the 20th century, so it’d be foolish to say that it’s just a recent thing.”
Moreover, they also have a legal claim, which the Akalis believe supersedes the provision on which the Haryana government has been arguing. They have claimed that the Haryana government’s legislation falls afoul of the Sikh Gurdwara Act of 1925, and thus would automatically invoke Article 254 of the Constitution, which mandates that no law can be passed that violates an extant law.
“Just to say they are fighting it out for the sake of money would be wrong,” Kumar said. “Akali Dal has been fighting it out very responsibly at least on the Panthic front. There were lots of opportunities to stoke communal tension. Badal senior can be blamed for many things, but not of stoking communal violence. If he is reacting like this, it is because they do have a locus standi [connection to and harm from the law] to talk about the SGPC.”
What role is the centre playing?
The Bharatiya Janata Party government initially dithered. It was unsure about supporting the Akalis, an alliance partner, outside the Punjab, especially in Haryana where the two parties actually found themselves on opposite sides this Lok Sabha election.
But it has since changed tack, with the Centre writing to the governor of Haryana last week saying he should withdraw the assent given to the Bill. The Attorney General has given an official opinion claiming that the state government didn’t have the power to pass such a law, because the organisation of corporations – which is technically what the gurdwara committees are, as a result of the Punjab State Reorganisation Act – falls on the Union list rather than the State list.
The Haryana government has rejected the Centre’s order, claiming that it is an affront to India’s federal structure. As a result, the Centre is now looking at other methods by which it can force the state to withdraw the legislation, including invoking provisions that give the President power in constitutional matters.
What happens next?
The matter is delicately poised, because of the potential for communal violence. The SGPC has refused to let Haryana take over the gurdwaras, with suggestions that force might be involved in any attempted eviction. Meanwhile, the Akalis have planned a large gathering in Amritsar on July 27 to make their position clear, which naturally lead to the pro-Haryana committee activists to call for a similar gathering in Haryana this week. There is also a strong possibility that the SGPC will take the matter to court over interpretations of the law.
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The move comes just before Assembly elections in Haryana. The state government’s decision to establish a separate gurdwara committee has set off a firestorm with all the elements of a major struggle in modern India: religious infighting, political wrangling, centre-state differences and even references to British divide-and-rule tactics.
What is the problem?
Earlier in the month, the Haryana Assembly passed legislation that would give a newly constituted body control of the state’s gurdwaras, which had, until then, been in the hands of the SGPC.
The SGPC, which was established in the early 1920s, is one of the primary organisations of Sikh religious leadership. It is dominated by members of the Shiromani Akali Dal, a political party that actually began life as a political wing of the SGPC. The SAD has always portrayed itself as the representative party of the Sikhs. The Akali Dal is also currently the ruling party in Punjab.
As one might expect, the Akalis and the SGPC haven’t taken well to the decision of the Haryana government, which is run by the rival Congress. Although Haryana was carved out of Punjab because it is a Hindu majority state with a different language, it still features the second-largest Sikh population in the country.
By setting up a separate committee to control Haryana’s gurdwaras, the government is cutting off a direct conduit that the Akalis had to Sikhs in Haryana, and an important source of revenue. The Akalis argue that this is an attempt to meddle in internal Sikh affairs.
“This ill-conceived move is aimed at dividing the Sikhs on the one hand and destabilising the Sikh panth on the other,” Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said, after the Haryana government passed the legislation, “Haryana Congress is following the footsteps of the erstwhile British government, who appointed their stooges to run the affairs of the gurdwaras in the pre-SGPC period.”
Why did Haryana pass the law?
There has been a demand from Haryana’s Sikhs for some time now to have a separate body to oversee gurudwaras in their state, although the call was not necessarily to split completely from the SGPC. Delhi, for example, has a separate gurdwara management committee that includes a representative from the SGPC.
The demand comes from the belief that the SGPC has always treated Haryana’s Sikhs unfairly, taking money from the offerings that are given there but piling all the funds into Punjab. The calls were enough for the Haryana Congress to put the promise of setting up a separate committee on its manifesto in 2005.
“Some kind of responsibility runs with the SGPC, especially when it comes to talk of step-brotherly treatment with Haryana,” said Ashutosh Kumar, a professor of Indian politics at Punjab University. “Compare how many colleges there are in Punjab and how many in Haryana, and things like that, and it becomes clear. Also note, there haven’t been popular protests on the part of Sikhs in Haryana against this move, so it’s clear that some responsibility does lie with the SGPC.”
The move also has legal backing. When Haryana was carved out of Punjab, the legislation that made the change a reality, the Punjab States Re-organisation Act, also gave the new state the option of setting up its own gurdwara management committee if it felt the need to do so.
Additionally, with elections expected in October, the Congress government is no doubt hoping that it will get some electoral reward for giving Sikhs in the state independence from an organisation that is dominated by Punjabis.
Do the Akalis have a point?
The Badals have argued that the Haryana government is needlessly meddling in internal Sikh affairs in an attempt to divide the religion. With the long Akali history of fighting for Sikh causes, they certainly have reason to preserve the order that they set up.
“You can’t really dismiss the claims that the Akalis have on the SGPC,” said Nonica Datta, a professor of history at Miranda House College, Delhi University, who is working on a book about Punjab. “The connection goes back to the early part of the 20th century, so it’d be foolish to say that it’s just a recent thing.”
Moreover, they also have a legal claim, which the Akalis believe supersedes the provision on which the Haryana government has been arguing. They have claimed that the Haryana government’s legislation falls afoul of the Sikh Gurdwara Act of 1925, and thus would automatically invoke Article 254 of the Constitution, which mandates that no law can be passed that violates an extant law.
“Just to say they are fighting it out for the sake of money would be wrong,” Kumar said. “Akali Dal has been fighting it out very responsibly at least on the Panthic front. There were lots of opportunities to stoke communal tension. Badal senior can be blamed for many things, but not of stoking communal violence. If he is reacting like this, it is because they do have a locus standi [connection to and harm from the law] to talk about the SGPC.”
What role is the centre playing?
The Bharatiya Janata Party government initially dithered. It was unsure about supporting the Akalis, an alliance partner, outside the Punjab, especially in Haryana where the two parties actually found themselves on opposite sides this Lok Sabha election.
But it has since changed tack, with the Centre writing to the governor of Haryana last week saying he should withdraw the assent given to the Bill. The Attorney General has given an official opinion claiming that the state government didn’t have the power to pass such a law, because the organisation of corporations – which is technically what the gurdwara committees are, as a result of the Punjab State Reorganisation Act – falls on the Union list rather than the State list.
The Haryana government has rejected the Centre’s order, claiming that it is an affront to India’s federal structure. As a result, the Centre is now looking at other methods by which it can force the state to withdraw the legislation, including invoking provisions that give the President power in constitutional matters.
What happens next?
The matter is delicately poised, because of the potential for communal violence. The SGPC has refused to let Haryana take over the gurdwaras, with suggestions that force might be involved in any attempted eviction. Meanwhile, the Akalis have planned a large gathering in Amritsar on July 27 to make their position clear, which naturally lead to the pro-Haryana committee activists to call for a similar gathering in Haryana this week. There is also a strong possibility that the SGPC will take the matter to court over interpretations of the law.