Politicos go all out to woo Sikhs
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tarlochan singh manjh (IP Logged)
Date: October 23, 2008 03:38AM
Politicos go all out to woo Sikhs
21 Oct 2008, 0141 hrs IST, Ambika Pandit, TNN
NEW DELHI: As Delhi government took a break by shutting all its offices and schools to mark the completion of 300 years of "Sri Guru Granth Sahib", t he politicians were busy making all the right noises to woo the Sikh votebank in the run-up to the assembly polls.
Chief minister Sheila Dikshit along with DPCC chief JP Aggarwal and education minister Arvinder Singh Lovely went all out to charm the crowd at the Lakhi Shah Vanjara hall at Rakab Ganj Sahib Gurdwara where the Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee had organised the mega celebrations. Similar celebrations were on at various Gurdwaras across the city. Samajwadi Party's Amar Singh too paid a visit to the Rakab Ganj Sahib Gurdwara and was seen reiterating his concerns for the Sikh community.
The BJP too left no stone unturned in wooing the Sikh community. The party's chief ministerial candidate V K Malhotra visited many Gurdwaras during the day, including Rakab Ganj Gurdwara. He even went to a gurdwara in GK area, the constituency from which he plans to contest.
Indicating its leanings clearly, the SGMC, in its opening remarks to welcome chief minister Sheila Dikshit to the kirtan, said: "Someone asked me to choose between BJP's chief ministerial candidate V K Malhotra and Delhi's chief minister Sheila Dikshit and point out which of the two was better for the CM post. I said I can't be a judge on who is the better candidate, but the only thing I can say is that chief minister Sheila Dikshit has done good work for Delhiites over the last 10 years. She has ruled the hearts of Delhiites," said Harvinder Singh Sarna, SGMC member.
SGMC went on to thank the Congress for giving the city the Guru Tegh Bahadur Memorial. However, along with all these accolades came the mega rider. SGMC chief Paramjit Singh Sarna rose to put forth a list of demands before the Congress-led central and state governments.
The shadow of the 1984 riots again took centrestage. "After the 1984 riots, the government had drawn a list of Sikhs who were blacklisted. These men went abroad and have now aged. We want the government to remove all the names from the blacklist so that they can return home. The SGMC is prepared to give undertakings as guarantee for all those who will be taken out of the blacklisted category," Sarna said.
He also demanded that Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, who was given the death sentence after the 1984 riots, should instead be given life imprisonment. The third demand sought the Anand Marriage Act to cover weddings of the Sikh community under Indian law.
Responding to the list of demands, the CM played safe. "We have tried to fulfil the aspirations of the Sikh community over the last 10 years and we will also look into and take forward the demands made by SGMC when the government returns to power with your blessings. The state can't do anything right now as the election is close and the code of conduct which does not permit any populist decisions is already in effect."
Source:The Times of India
