Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 19: The Jammu and Kashmir Sikh Coordination Committee led by its chairman Ajit Singh extended gratitude to the LG Administration for inducting a Sikh member in the J&K Public Service Commission and hoped that other pending demands will also be addressed shortly .
Addressing a press conference here today, Ajit Singh said that long pending demands of the Sikh community of implementation of the Anand Marriage Act and the installation of the statue of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur at Jammu have already been fulfilled by the LG Administration but several other have been ignored.
The Coordination Committee pointed out that prior to the enactment of the Gurdwara Endowment Act 1973, some of the Gurdwaras were constructed by the then Rulers/ Maharaja’s and huge properties/ chunks of land were attached with these Gurdwaras and these places and the properties so attached were being looked after by the authorised persons without any ownership rights who were designated as Mohatmim /Caretakers. But with the passage of time, some of these caretakers managed to sale out the properties attached to these Gurdwaras. It is requested to bring all these Gurdwaras and the attached properties/ chunk of land directly under the control of the District Gurdwara Parbandhak Committees as per the Sikh Gurdwara Endowment Act 1973 on the same pattern of Waqf Board looking after all the Shrines and Ziarats.
They further demanded installation of statue of Maharaha Ranjit Singh at Srinagar. It is a matter of great prestige that this great Ruler and warrior, who ended the Mughal empire from Kashmir in 1814, not only permanently annexed the Kashmir with India but also completely paved the end of era of oppression of invaders to end towards the Indian Sub- continent.
Ajit Singh said during the partition of the country in 1947, lakhs of Sikh refugees migrated from PoJK and got settled in different States, the majority of them settled in Jammu Province of present J&K UT. It is requested to reserve at least 10% Assembly seats for the Sikh Community , out of the quota reserved for PoJK Refugees in the J&K Assembly, to give the due representation to the Sikh Community. Moreover, Sikhs be given Minority Community status.
They further demanded that Punjabi language be provided due respect in the Jammu and Kashmir and implementation at all levels; SRO 425 might be extended to the Sikh Community living in Kashmir valley and all the Refugee Bastis inherited by the refugees of PoJK be regularised by giving the ownership rights to them.
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