Bill to bar Sahejdhari Sikhs from voting

The Parliament on Monday passed a Bill to amend a 91-year-old law to exclude Sahajdharis from voting in the elections to Sikh religious bodies, fulfilling a long-pending demand of the community ahead of the Assembly elections in Punjab next year.

The Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was passed by the Lok Sabha more than a month after the Rajya Sabha approved it. Replying to a debate on the Bill, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the demand for not giving voting rights to Sahejdari Sikhs was made by the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabhandak Committee members and office-bearers.

“The SGPC office-bearers and members have often demanded that those who are not Sikhs should not be given voting rights. The SPGC General Assembly of 2001 also passed a resolution regarding this,” Singh said.