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Even after 86 years of legislation to administer historic gurdwaras, the debate over recognition of Sehajdharis as Sikhs continues. Though the term Sehajdhari Sikh finds no mention in the more recent Acts, including the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Act or the Acts that govern Takhts at Hazur Sahib (Nanded) or Patna Sahib, it was incorporated in the original Gurdwara Act: 1925 in 1959 by including Section 2(10-A).
The debate over the issue becomes centrestage every time elections to the SGPC are held.
In the first 12 or 13 elections to the general house of the SGPC, Sehajdhari Sikhs exercised their right to vote. They were defranchised in 2003 when the general house of the SGPC passed a resolution to that effect. Subsequently, the Union Home Ministry put its stamp of approval on the general house decision on October 8, 2003, notifying that Sehajdhari Sikhs were no more part of the electoral college of the SGPC.
This notification was challenged by the Sehajdharis in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. They, however, did not get any reprieve as the 2004 SGPC elections were held without restoration of their voting right.
Since the withdrawal of right to vote was notified in 2003 and the 2004 elections were held without Sehajdharis on the electroal rolls, the withdrawal of the notification now would have created both legal and social problems.
<font face="Verdana"><font size="2">Histrorically speaking, the term word Sehajdhari finds no mention either in any of the Sikh granths or the Sikh Rehat Maryada. In 2008, when the issue of defining a Sikh was taken up by the Constitution Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the Gurleen Kaur vs SGPC case, the Sehajdhari issue figured nowhere though references were made to Amritdhari
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Sehajdhari issue as old as Gurdwara Act
Prabhjot Singh/TNS
Chandigarh, September 2Prabhjot Singh/TNS
Even after 86 years of legislation to administer historic gurdwaras, the debate over recognition of Sehajdharis as Sikhs continues. Though the term Sehajdhari Sikh finds no mention in the more recent Acts, including the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Act or the Acts that govern Takhts at Hazur Sahib (Nanded) or Patna Sahib, it was incorporated in the original Gurdwara Act: 1925 in 1959 by including Section 2(10-A).
The debate over the issue becomes centrestage every time elections to the SGPC are held.
In the first 12 or 13 elections to the general house of the SGPC, Sehajdhari Sikhs exercised their right to vote. They were defranchised in 2003 when the general house of the SGPC passed a resolution to that effect. Subsequently, the Union Home Ministry put its stamp of approval on the general house decision on October 8, 2003, notifying that Sehajdhari Sikhs were no more part of the electoral college of the SGPC.
This notification was challenged by the Sehajdharis in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. They, however, did not get any reprieve as the 2004 SGPC elections were held without restoration of their voting right.
Since the withdrawal of right to vote was notified in 2003 and the 2004 elections were held without Sehajdharis on the electroal rolls, the withdrawal of the notification now would have created both legal and social problems.
<font face="Verdana"><font size="2">Histrorically speaking, the term word Sehajdhari finds no mention either in any of the Sikh granths or the Sikh Rehat Maryada. In 2008, when the issue of defining a Sikh was taken up by the Constitution Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the Gurleen Kaur vs SGPC case, the Sehajdhari issue figured nowhere though references were made to Amritdhari
More...