Chandigarh, Aug 10 - The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the mini-parliament of Sikhs, Monday announced it would not tolerate any attempt by Haryana to set up a separate organisation to administer gurdwaras in that state.
Strongly opposing the statement by Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who heads the Congress government, that a new SGPC for Haryana could be announced Nov 1, SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar said the main SGPC would oppose this move at all costs.
'The Congress is not a secular party. They are trying to divide the Sikhs and suppress their voice. The Congress is doing this to garner Sikh votes in Haryana elections,' Makkar told the media after a meeting of the SGPC executive committee held here.
The executive's resolution, opposing the move of the Hooda government for a separate Sikh body for Haryana, will be put up before a general body meeting of the SGPC at Amritsar Friday.
The SGPC, headquartered at the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar, is dominated by the ruling Akali Dal in Punjab.
Makkar said: 'This is a sensitive issue for Sikhs. Hooda's statements in this regard are to instigate the community. His talk about holding a referendum of Haryana Sikhs is a sham. We will not tolerate if anyone tries to break the SGPC.'
But there were opposing voices in the SGPC executive meeting as well here.
Baldev Singh Khalsa, an executive member from Haryana, said Sikhs in Haryana wanted a separate SGPC.
'Sikh shrines in Delhi and Pakistan have separate committees to manage gurdwara affairs.