JALANDHAR: Where SAD and SGPC have launched an offensive against BJP and RSS, alleging meddling in gurdwara management affairs, former SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar has said that SAD tolerated interference after the Maharashtra government amended the Takht Hazur Sahib Board Act regarding appointment of president in February 2015.

“Either you don’t allow interference, or you tolerate it. It can’t be both ways. But in the case of Hazur Sahib Board, the SAD approach has been dichotomous as after initial resistance they tolerated the interference for over three years,” said Makkar while speaking to TOI over phone.

“When the Maharashtra government amended the Act in February 2015 and later in April 2015 appointed BJP MLA Tara Singh (as Hazur Sahib Board president), I was SGPC president and had strongly opposed it. Initially, there was resistance by SAD but then after a few statements the party leadership turned silent and there was no noise. The SAD leadership should have got the amendment undone by taking up the issue with Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis then only but apparently little was done to address the issue,” he said.

“There has not been any interference in Takht Patna Sahib Board and it took place only in case of Hazur Sahib Board,” he added.

The former SGPC president revealed that last November, he had told SAD president Sukhbir Badal that this time SGPC should try to have its nominee as Hazur Sahib Board president as the locally elected members had expressed the same sentiment. “I received messages from there that the locally elected members wanted the SGPC nominee in the board to be elected president and they would support (it) as they did not want any interference by the government,” Makkar said.

Notably, present SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal has also attacked Rashtriya Sikh Sangat for attempts to meddle in the gurdwara affairs but has not responded to the Sangh affiliate’s allegations that it was the Akali Dal which misused religious institutions for vested political interest and even arranged pardon for Sirsa Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and then made SGPC spend over Rs 82 lakhs on advertisements to justify it.

