Khalsa Diwan faces opposition for inducting 64 new members

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 20

A day after the century-old Chief Khalsa Diwan (CKD) inducted 64 members in its fold, a group of members challenged the move and approached the Akal Takht to initiate action.

The members were inducted during the executive committee and general house meeting, which was held in Ludhiana yesterday.

CKD president Nirmal Singh said a resolution was passed during the last four meetings of the executive commitee which said that new members should be inducted to fill in the shoes of those who had expired or had submitted their resignations or were habitual absentees in the meetings.

He said a six-member scrutiny committee was formed to ascertain what conditions one needed to fulfill to qualify as ‘Gursikh’. The new members were inducted after getting consent of the general house. Those inducted include 24 from Amritsar, six from Jalandhar, four from Chandigarh, 11 from Tarn Taran, 12 from Ludhiana, five from Mumbai and two from New Delhi.

On the other hand, Kuljit Singh of Singh Brothers said the meeting was scheduled in violation of the constitution of CKD. Singh said: “Admission of new members was never a part of the agenda yet they were inducted despite our resistance.”

He said the condition of a member being ‘amritdhari’ was also overlooked to adjust family members and relatives. “We have sought Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh’s intervention. Also, we have submitted our contest with president of the CKD,” he said.

Meanwhile, during the meeting, it was also decided to introduce IELTS preparation courses in institutes of Amritsar and Tarn Taran. To raise the bar of education, special teachers’ training programme will also be scheduled. For the same, a dedicated committee has been constituted.