By Asia Samachar | Malaysia |
Training of parcharaks, unethical conversions, preservation of Sikh heritage, implementation of Mool Nanak Shahi calendar, allocation of funds for education, healthcare and employment of needy people were among issues raised at a three-day Sikh international conference at Amritsar that ended on Sunday (16 Oct 2022).
These were among the issues discussed at the conference and annual general meeting of the Global Sikh Council (GSC), a confederation of national level Sikh organisations worldwide.
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami was one of the key speakers at the event.
In his address, he assured the gathering that he would personally go through the issues raised by the council and would work towards their implementation, according to a statement issued by GSC.
GSC called upon the Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann to enact laws in the Punjab state assembly to criminalize unethical conversions by force, coercion, inducement, allurement, and undue influence by fraudulent means besides to pass legislation and introduce policies to ensure and make it a condition that jobs in Punjab to be reserved for domiciles of Punjab for at least residing since 10 years.
The resolution was unanimously passed by the GSC, it said in the same statement emailed to Asia Samachar.
Its international conference, themed “Sikhi in the 21st century”, was attended by members from 14 countries. Sikh reformer and author Dr Karminder Singh spoke on the main challenges faced by Sikhi in the 21st century. Click here to view the video.
The conference was opened by GSC president Dr Kanwaljit Kaur (Lady Singh) from UK.
Some of the special invitees to the conference were The Sikh Review editor Partap Singh, former lawmaker Tarlochan Singh, human rights lawyer H.S. Phoolka, former Indian ambassador KC Singh and Dr Kiranjot Kaur Amritsar.
The meeting also resolved to create awareness against caste system and have one gurdwara and one cremation ground in a village sans to be on caste based. In addition to this it was decided that Sikh Rehat Maryada passed in 1945 should be followed by all gurdwaras in the worldwide.
In the AGM, Dr Kanwaljit was unanimously re-elected president, flanked by Paramjit Singh Bedi (Chairman of Afghan Committee) as deputy president, Harsaran Singh (India) as secretary and Satnam Singh (UK) as treasurer. It also elected five members: Jagir Singh (Malaysia), Gurdial Singh (France), Surinder Jit Singh (Italy), Gurpreet Kaur (Uganda) and Amanjeet Singh (Dubai).
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GSC applauds Akal Takht call for laws to fight unlawful conversion (Asia Samachar, 3 Sept 2022)
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