After 3 decades, Sikh demand for separate status gains force again
Amritsar, Dec 17 2014: The demand to amend Article 25 (b) of the Constitution, which clubs Sikhs with Hindus, is gaining force again. Top community leaders have taken up the issue after around three decades.
While Akal Takht and the SGPC have already voiced their support to the demand, a US-based rights group has also launched an online petition to muster support for it.
Former Rajya Sabha member Tarlochan Singh said it was a genuine demand of the community and it was high time that all Sikh MPs, irrespective of their party affiliations, came together for it. “They should approach President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue and not any particular political party,” he said.
According to him, he made two attempts to get Article 25(b) amended during his stint as the Rajya Sabha MP in 2006 by putting it up as a Private Member Bill, but it could not be tabled due to various reasons.
Akali leader Rattan Singh Ajnala also made a similar effort in the Lok Sabha in 2012, but he also drew a blank. “A fresh bid has been now made by SAD MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and we hope it will bear fruit this time,” he said.
SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar said, “Sikhism is a separate religion which has its own traditions and philosophy. Article 25 (b) of the Constitution deprives the Sikhs of their legitimate rights and, therefore, it should be amended.”
Former SGPC secretary Gurbachan Singh Bachan said the Union Government should have addressed the issue on its own. “When India recognises religious independence then why Sikhs, Jains or Buddhists need to ask for it? They should be acknowledged as independent religions without any delay,” he said.
Former DSGMC president Paramjit Singh Sarna said the Sikhs across the world were unanimous on the issue and they had long been demanding the required amendment to the Constitution.
Noted lawyer and AAP leader HS Phoolka said the Akali Dal was the part of the ruling NDA government and it should use its influence to take up the matter at the top level so as to meet this long-pending demand of the community.
Radical Sikh outfit Dal Khalsa spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh said the Sikhs would have to take a firm stand if they wanted to remove the “Sikhs are Hindus” tag and fight against this “constitutional injustice”.
Earlier, Sikhs for Justice, a US-based rights group, had launched an online petition, “Sikhs are not Hindus”, which it intends to present to US President Barack Obama prior to his visit to India next month. The petition urges Obama to question PM Narendra Modi during his India visit as to “Why Indian Constitution labels Sikhs as Hindus?”
(To view the petition - click here.)
Voices that matter
"They (all Sikh MPs) should approach President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue and not any particular political party." — Tarlochan Singh, ex-member Rajya Sabha
"Sikhism is a separate religion. Article 25 (b) of the Constitution deprives the Sikhs of their legitimate rights and, therefore, it should be amended." — Avtar Singh Makkar, sgpc president