New Delhi: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has threatened a massive agitation against the Haryana government's move to set up a separate SGPC from November 1 and accused the Congress of meddling in Sikh religious affairs.
The party also alleged that the Congress government was playing vote-bank politics ahead of the state assembly polls slated for early 2010.
SAD Lok Sabha MPs Rattan Singh Ajnala and Harsimrat Kaur Badal alleged the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government was trying to whip up religious passions by dividing the Sikh religious body, which at present governs the affairs of Gurudwaras in both Punjab and Haryana.
"The Congress government in Haryana is meddling in the religious affairs of the minority Sikh community. It is trying to create a divide in society by deciding to set up a separate SGPC for Haryana and whipping religious passions. If the move is not dropped then we will be forced to go on an agitation. This will only affect the common man. We will not allow vote-bank politics and the divide-and-rule policy ahead of the state Assembly elections to succeed," Ajnala and Badal told reporters outside Parliament in New Delhi.
Earlier in the day, SAD members, with support from other Opposition parties including alliance partner BJP, had forced an adjournment in both Houses of Parliament.
The Shiromani Gurudwara Prabhandak Committee, a 170-member body of Sikhs which manages the community's religious affairs, directly administers seven major Gurudwaras and indirectly controls 18 others in Haryana.
Ajnala said the Sikhs had fought the British and got the SGPC for managing their own religious affairs in 1925.
"But Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Congress are trying to divide the SGPC. We will not allow this to happen," the Khadoor Sahib MP said.
Badal, wife of SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, said the Sikhs' fight to manage their own religious affairs and Gurudwaras was supported by Mahatma Gandhi during the pre-Independence days and later by Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajiv Gandhi.
"The Longowal Accord too recognises the Sikhs' right. But now, the issue is being politicised. But we have got the support of all political parties against the Haryana government's move," she said.
To a question, the Bhatinda MP said the Congress, which was ruling at the Centre, could not allow the Haryana government to reverse the stand of its own former Prime Ministers.
The demand for a separate religious body for Haryana grew louder five years ago, with then seven SGPC members from the state representing the 1.3 million Sikh population raising the issue of "poor" management of Gurudwaras.
Of the Rs 400 crore annual revenue of SGPC, about Rs 10 crore was contributed by Gurudwaras in Haryana, they had pointed out.
The state government had set up a committee under Agriculture Minister H S Chatha, which submitted its report in February this year favouring a separate SGPC.