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Akalis reduced SGPC to ‘golak' committee: Bhagwant Mann

Akalis reduced SGPC to ‘golak' committee: Bhagwant Mann

Hindustan Times2 days ago

Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday accused Akali leaders of reducing the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to a 'Shiromani Golak Parbandhak Committee,' driven by greed for money.
Speaking at a public gathering, Mann alleged that the Badal family misused their political power to interfere in religious affairs, including manipulating the appointment of jathedars of the Akal Takht to serve their personal interests.
'Driven by financial motives, the Akalis have degraded the sanctity of the SGPC and misused both it and the Akal Takht for narrow political gains,' he said.
Mann further accused the Akalis of twisting the directives of the Akal Takht to deceive the public and advance their own agenda. 'The Akalis looted not only the state exchequer but also funds belonging to religious institutions. Their tenure was marked by political and religious exploitation, causing significant harm to Punjab,' he added.
Mann claimed the Akali leadership neglected the poor while enabling the powerful to loot the state with impunity, exploiting the weaker sections of society.
'The people of Punjab will never forgive the Akalis for the crimes committed against the state and its residents,' Mann warned.
He also criticised traditional political parties for being insensitive to the welfare of economically weaker and underprivileged communities, accusing them of treating Scheduled Castes merely as vote bank.
'As rulers, the Akalis remained indifferent to the problems of the common man and treated the SC community as vote banks,' Mann said.
He further alleged that Akali leaders amassed enormous wealth by misusing their official positions and remained inaccessible to the public, which ultimately led to their downfall.
CM has insulted Sikh community: SGPC chief
Reacting sharply to Mann's comment, SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami said 'it is an insult to the Sikh community and its premier religious body'.
Dhami said the CM's remark was not only baseless and offensive to Sikh sentiments, but also displayed 'intellectual bankruptcy' and 'political arrogance.' He termed the statement a 'blatant insult to the highest religious institution of the Sikh Panth.'
'Such irresponsible comments reflect a shallow understanding of Sikh institutions and history,' Dhami said, warning that targeting the SGPC for political purposes could have far-reaching consequences.

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India's invitation to G7 reflects Canada's desire to reset ties
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"The grievances about Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the Khalistan movement were not real": Former Pentagon official slams Trudeau for amplifying exaggerated claims
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Washington, DC [US], June 11 (ANI): Former Pentagon official and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, Michael Rubin, has strongly criticised former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for amplifying what he called exaggerated claims around Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the Khalistan movement. He also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's strategic diplomacy and called for firm action against Khalistani extremism. 'The grievances about Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the Khalistan movement were not real': Rubin said, accusing Trudeau of appeasing radical Sikh extremists in Canada and shifting blame to India rather than acknowledging domestic issues. Rubin further elaborated on Prime Minister Modi's leadership, saying, 'Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi's critics will acknowledge that he has grown tremendously in office and he's now one of the most influential statesmen not only in Asia but in the world. The fact of the matter is that this magnanimity is strategic and it also forces the Canadians to recognise that the problem all along was in Canada and not with India. So, kudos to Prime Minister Modi for this strategy and for rejoining and agreeing to go to Alberta and the fact of the matter is that a strong relationship between India and all of North America is within everybody's interests, especially given the rise of China.' Touching upon the issue of Khalistani extremism, Rubin stressed the importance of decisive measures from Canada. He said, 'It is so essential that India continued to press Canada to address the Khalistan movement head-on to designate the Khalistan movement and extremists as terrorists, to uproot terror finance and to stigmatize forever these groups that really have no popular legitimacy back home in Punjab or for that matter, among the larger peaceful Sikh community in Canada. It's time to stop allowing the loud, extreme voices to win and instead recognise that those same loud, extreme voices oftentimes deserve to be in prison for their involvement in terror, tax fraud and organised crime in Canada, in San Francisco and elsewhere.' Reiterating his criticism of Trudeau, Rubin again dismissed the narrative around Nijjar and the Khalistan movement. He said, 'The grievances about Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the Khalistan movement were not real. They were exaggerations that Justin Trudeau Trudeau may have wanted so much to appease radical Sikh extremists in various constituencies that he was willing to take an organised crime hit between various Sikh groups and mafias and blame an outside power for it, rather than acknowledge the problem and the fault was Canada's alone. That is Justin Trudeau's problem. But now that Justin Trudeau is gone and likely will never return to power, Prime Minister Carney is taking a sober approach and recognising that he is not going to be tied to Justin Trudeau's fictions...' In this context, Rubin has come out swinging against Khalistanis while praising Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to accept Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's invitation to the G7 Summit (from June 15 to 17) in Canada. He believes PM Modi's magnanimity in attending the summit shows 'India has nothing to hide.' Speaking to ANI on Wednesday, Rubin contrasted former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's approach with that of Carney's, saying Carney 'understands the importance of India' and wants to 'restore maturity to the relationship.' 'Canadian PM Mark Carney originally is a banker. He understands the importance of India. Justin Trudeau was a politician who peddled in image and imagination, and therefore it makes sense that Carney wants to restore maturity to the relationship,' Rubin told ANI. 'It actually makes sense for Prime Minister Modi to show that the problem was not Canada itself, but the immaturity and unprofessionalism of Justin Trudeau,' he added. Further, the American security expert highlighted that the Indian government is 'willing to have a serious dialogue, much like they had with the United States.' Rubin added that the problem with 'Justin Trudeau is that for his own domestic, political reasons and to assuage radical constituencies, he was basically shooting from the hip without any factual basis to support his accusations against India.' 'What Prime Minister Modi is showing is that India has nothing to hide. If you're going to have a serious law enforcement dialogue, it's got to be two-way. We've got to talk about illegal immigration into Canada, terror finance in Canada, radical Sikh mafias and how the Khalistan movement is tied to organised crime and terrorism,' he added. Rubin also raised concerns about the Khalistanis' movements, stating, 'when you give safe haven to any terror group. Ultimately, your own interests are going to be subverted.' 'Justin Trudeau and frankly Pierre Trudeau before him, by embracing and tolerating the Khalistan movement in the face of some of the worst terrorist attacks in the 20th century, what they did is ultimately undermine Canada's moral authority and its strategic importance,' he added. (ANI)

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