Chandigarh, Aug 7 - A body representing Indians in North America Friday appealed to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to pardon two Sikhs in Canada ex-communicated 23 years ago for serving food on tables in a gurdwara.

'We are appealing to Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal to convince SGPC to pardon Kashmir Singh Dhaliwal and Balwant Singh Gill, presidents of Ross Gurdwara and Surrey Gurdwara, respectively,' Vikram Bajwa, secretary of Indian Immigrants in North America (IINA) told reporters here.

'They were declared offenders and ousted from the Sikh community in 1986. Their only fault was that they organised a 'langar' (community kitchen) on tables that offended the sentiments of Akal Takht. However, Sikh populace of Vancouver has full faith in them and supports them,' he said.