The Punjab government on Wednesday formed a seven-member committee that will coordinate and hold discussions with the Akal Takht-constituted panel on the anti-sacrilege law and give suggestions for further action.
However, the AAP government postponed the move after Akal Takht directed all Sikh MLAs and cabinet ministers to ensure that no discussion should take place on the anti-sacrilege law until consensus is reached with Akal Takht and the SGPC on the issue, and not to give consent to any further amendments to the law. Rejecting the response submitted by the Punjab government on the amendments proposed by the highest Sikh temporal seat in the law, Akal Takht acting Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj on July 30 formed a committee comprising justice Rupinder Singh Sodhi (retd), justice Mohinder Mohan Singh Bedi (retd), senior advocate Puran Singh Hundal, Sikh scholar Dr Kehar Singh Patiala, Prof Jagmohan Singh Ludhiana and SGPC Chandigarh sub-office secretary Lakhvir Singh as coordinator. By forming the panel, Giani Gargaj had said that the spirit of the consensus reached by the Sikh MLAs of the Punjab Assembly and cabinet ministers at Akal Takht on June 29 has not been reflected in the government’s response. The written response was sent by the government through MLA Inderbir Singh Nijjar days ahead of Punjab Assembly’s monsoon session — from August 3 to August 10 — during which amendments in the law were proposed to be tabled.
This committee will maintain coordination, have discussions and communication with the committee constituted by the Akal Takht — the highest temporal seat of Sikhs — and will submit a report on important issues and suggestions to the Punjab government for further necessary action, according to an official order issued by Alok Shekhar, additional chief secretary, home affairs and justice department, Punjab. Giani Gargaj said the government should establish contact with the committee constituted by Akal Takht and reach a consensus on the law, and gave a two-month deadline to the government.
