Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Dec 29: All Parties Sikh Coordination Committee (APSCC), Kashmir has urged the J&K UT Administration to address the important issues confronting Sikh community in Jammu & Kashmir, especially during the past 30 years of turmoil.
Addressing a joint press conference, senior members of the APSCC said that all the Governments of Jammu & Kashmir in the past have deliberately ignored the basic issues of Sikh community while taking refuge under the turmoil in the erstwhile state. The issues have piled up due to non-resolution. The community fails to understand the measuring rod used by the people at the helm to measure or understand the problems of Sikhs here. This community has been neglected and discriminated all along even in the new Union Territory.
They pointed out that the Government is not conducting elections of Gurudwara Parbhandak
Committees even though they are due to be conducted under the J&K Gurudwara Endowment Act 1973 by Financial Commissioner (Revenue). Although, DDC elections and polls for local bodies have been held over the past three years or so, no steps are being taken to hold elections of Gurudwara Parbhandak Committees.
Since elections have not been held mismanagement and financial irregularities have come up in many districts with the same leading to litigation. By delaying elections of Gurudwara Parbhandak Committees Sikh community in Jammu & Kashmir feels bad about the Government conduct towards them.
The APSCC demands that the Government should come forward and help the community in consolidating the property of the community attached with various Gurudwaras. Many vested interests have developed among influential people from within community and outside community to grab the property of Sikh community in both the provinces of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Government should ask all Deputy Commissioners in J&K to take stock of these nefarious designs to safe guard the property of Sikh community attached with various Gurudwaras.
The Sikhs are openly discriminated in various government orders and packages while as other minorities are getting special exclusive and secret packages of jobs for their youth. It seems that the Prime Minister’s office is ignorant of such attitude of Government. The Punjabi language has not provided justice in J&K. The Delimitation Commission has also not provided any reservation to the Sikhs in Assembly.
Senior Sikh leaders including Bikram Singh, Ravinder Singh, Milkeet Singh, Davinder Singh and Gurdeep Singh also accompanied.
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