| Malacca, Malaysia | 10 Dec 2016 | Asia Samachar |
The ladies’ wings at gurdaras in Malaysia, usually called Istri Satsangs, will likely get a boost with the establishment of a trust to steer their direction at the national level.
Malaysian Gurdwaras Council (MGC) has established a trust for the ladies’ wing in an attempt to co-ordinate and represent the Istri satsangs of all legally constituted gurdwaras in Malaysia
“Collectively, you will have a stronger voice. The Trust will put the women representation on a better footing,” MGC president Jagir Singh told an annual gathering of Sikh women in Malacca, today (10 Dec 2016).
“When making represention to the government, they can hold out to be a legally constituted body. Even with 50 gurdwaras as members, they will have at least 2,500 membership, making them the third largest Sikh orgaisation after the parent MGC and Sikh Naujawan Sabha Malaysia in terms of membership.”
Jagir was speaking at the two-day Istri Satsang Selana Semagam 2016 (the Annual Gathering of Sikh Women) which began with a whole-day seminar at a hotel. Some 150 women nationwide are participating in the programme.
On 3 Dec 2016, MGC’s annual general meeting held in Kuala Lumpur approved the constitution for the proposed MGC Isteri Satsang Trust.
All Istri Satsangs at gurdwaras in Malaysia can join the trust whose rules and activities will be in compliance with the Sikh Rehat Maryada (SRM), the Sikh code of conduct as published by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee (SGPC).
“We want to have unity. Our Panth has one maryada, if you dont abide by it, then you will have division. Otherwise, duality sets in, and you don’t have unity,” he tells Asia Samachar when asked about the provision on SRM.
He said the idea to set up the trust had been deliberated for the past four years. The trust will conduct its own annual general meeting where it will elect a leadership of 13 women who will stay for a two-year term and a trustee board that will stay in perpetuity unless they resign.
Once elected, the 13 members who will make up the executive committee will then decide who among them will take on the key leadership roles of president, two vice presidents and secretary. The treasury job will be overseen by the trustees.
At the seminar today, the speakers included lawyer Manjeet Singh, educationist Balabir Kaur and civil servant Karminder Singh.
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