Keep status quo, Akal Takht tells shrine managements

Chandigarh: A day after asking Sikh leaders of Punjab and Haryana to call off their respective conclaves, the Akal Takht on Sunday directed that the status quo be maintained in the management of all gurdwaras till the issue gets resolved.

Akal Takht president Gurbachan Singh said, “Let the management of all Haryana-based Sikh shrines be managed by the SGPC to maintain peace.” He also directed that “nobody should interfere” in the management of gurdwaras in Haryana.

The directive came a day after the Akal Takht directed that congregations of Sikhs in Karnal and elsewhere against the formation of a separate SGPC in Haryana be called off even as the HSGMC elected its new office-bearers.

With the fresh directives, the Akal Takht president restrained the newly-formed 11-member commission, including its president Jagdish Singh Jhinda, and office bearers to begin the functioning of the Haryana-SGMC.