Amritsar – Labelling the Sarbat Khalsa congregation as anti-panthic, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Tuesday rejected all resolutions passed at the Sarbat Khalsa in Chabba near Amritsar.

“The gathering was called and managed at the behest of anti-Panthic elements who represent the traditional enemy of the Khalsa Panth – the Congress,” SAD leaders said.

In a joint statement given by SAD Akali leaders stated, “The presence of several Congress leaders like Inderjeet Singh Zira and their workers at the gathering gave their game away” .

“These resolutions and the people behind the decisions pose a threat to the atmosphere of peace and communal harmony in the state,” Akali leaders said, adding that the resolutions are a repetition of the conspiracy plotted by the Congress.

“Peace remains SAD’s top priority. The conspiracy to disrupt it deserves to be exposed, condemned and rejected in the strongest possible terms in the larger interest of the Sikhs,” the Akali leaders reiterated.

“The SAD also views with concern the attempts being made to carry forward the age-old Congress agenda against the Sikh Panth and undo the hard-won rights of the Sikhs to manage their own sacred gurdwaras and run their religious affairs through representatives elected by the Sikh masses to the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhadak Committee (SGPC). The Congress has been trying for many years to rediscover its lost relevance by causing dissensions within the Khalsa Panth. This will never be allowed. The Sikhs will fight their conspiracy unitedly,” they added.

The SAD also rejected the right of any group to supersede the will of the Khalsa Panth as expressed through their elected body, the SGPC, to choose the jathedars of the sacred Takhts of the Khalsa Panth.

The SAD leaders further said that the gathering tried to destroy the results of countless sacrifices made by our ancestors in the peaceful and democratic struggle culminating in the ‘Jaitu da Morcha’, ‘Saka Nanakana Sahib’ and ‘Chaabia da Morcha’.

The resolutions questioning the authority of the Akal Takht and the SGPC are an attempt to push the community back into the era of Mahants,” the Akali leaders concluded.