NEW DELHI – With both the SAD and the SAD (Delhi) locked in a tight fight for control of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), attempts are being made to make the contest one between the “outsiders” represented by the dominant Jat peasantry class of Punjab and the majority trader community of Delhi.
The latter mainly consists of people who have migrated from Rawalpindi, Attock, Mianwali, Gujarat, Jhelum, Sargodha, Jhang, Multan and Montgomery districts of Pakistan. They are represented by the Sarna brothers in the DSGMC.
This community calls the shots in the DSGMC elections, Efforts are being made by the Sarna group to win over the confidence of the community. The Sarna group feels if it is successful in this endeavour, the elections will be sewed up in its favour. This is because not only is the Sikh trading community dominant in Delhi, but it is also a tightly knit group with its members marrying their kin in Delhi only.
A quick tour of some areas revealed that a whisper campaign has already been started by the Sarna group, projecting the SAD and its top leadership as “invaders” who should be stopped from “capturing” Delhi.
The Sikhs in Delhi are being told that the manner in which the gurdwaras as well as institutions are run will be seriously affected if their control is taken over by the “outsiders”.
