Dhindsa backs separate Sikh marriage act but Badal appeared non-committal

Phagwara, December 16
(Express India)
Agencies

Senior Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa came out in support of a separate 'Anand Karaj' (marriage) Act for the Sikhs, while his party president and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal appeared non-committal on bringing a bill on the issue in the state assembly.
Talking to newsmen here, Badal skirted the issue by saying that the decision to introduce any bill in Punjab assembly would be taken keeping the circumstances in view.

However, former Union Minister Dhindsa, who was sitting besides him, said all Sikh MPs cutting across party lines had submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for enacting the Act by amending the constitution.

He said for putting a check on certain unscrupulous NRI bridegrooms, who are leaving their wives in lurch, the registration of marriage was must and it could be done through Anand Karaj Act.

At this, Badal asserted that he was also in favour of registration a marriage so that certain NRI grooms could not create problems for their brides by ditching them.

However, he remained non-committal to persistent queries of reporters for bringing in any proposal in Punjab assembly for enacting any such Act.

All that the Chief Minister would say on the issue was that he would consult his colleagues about it. He said he had high regard for all religions and the issue of separate Anand Act should not be linked with Hindus or Sikhs.

Pak Minister gives assurances for enacting Sikh Marriage Act

Saturday November 24, 05:31 PM
By Ravinder Singh Robin, ANI

Amritsar, Nov.24 (ANI): Pakistan's Law Minister, Syed Afzal Haider, today assured the Sikh congregation that his government would enact the "Anand Karaj Act" for the Sikhs living in Pakistan soon.

Addressing Sikhs gathered at Gurdwara Nankana Sahib near Lahore, where the 538th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev is being observed, Haider said that the Sikh leadership in Pakistan should help him to see the passage of the Act in Parliament.

Dr. Pritpal Singh, the convener of the American Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee, said that the Sikh Diaspora welcomed Haider's announcement.

Dr. Singh said that today the Sikh diaspora is spread all over the world and they are recognized by their physical appearance as a separate community. By enacting a separate Anand Karaj Act, Sikh will feel more satisfied in Pakistan.

Bishen Singh, president of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee (PSGPC) said that this was a long pending demand of the Sikhs living in Pakistan, as it would remove confusion internationally about Sikhs being seen as Hindus.

Bishen Singh informed that the Government of Pakistan had also announced plans to construct accommodation for 2000 devotees in Nankana Sahib. (ANI)

No Need Of Sikh Marriage Act: Tulsi

KTS Tulsi
Attari: Posted in: Asia
By
Dec 9, 2007

KTS Tulsi has now raised the hackles of the Sikh clergy by raising objections over a separate Act for registration of Sikh marriages in India. "We follow all Hindu traditions," the Gujarat government's special counsel in Supreme Court, KTS Tulsi, told press in Attari.

Tulsi was part of the delegation of senior Sikh advocates and intellectuals that left for Pakistan along with a draft proposal of Sikh Marriage Act. The delegation, led by Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), returned on Saturday.

Hindus and Sikhs share the same basic values and the conditions for a valid marriage, grounds for judicial separation and procedure for divorce by mutual consent, among others, are included in the Hindu Marriage Act, he said. "There's not much need for a Sikh Marriage Act in India," he added.

But it must not come as any surprise to those who know K T S Tulsi. He is the man who represented the Punjab police against Sikh terrorists. He supported the action against Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Tulsi also defended former Punjab director general of police K P S Gill in a sexual abuse case.

Tulsi clarified, there was an urgent need for such a legislation outside India. In other countries, he claimed, Sikhs don't have any personal law and their issues get intermingled with the laws of societies they live in, he said. "It (Sikh Marriage Act) would prove to be a boon for girls who are married abroad and are subjected to torture or are abandoned by their husbands. There is a likelihood of other countries adopting Sikh Marriage Act," he added.

Angry at the statement, Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Avtar Singh Makkar reacted by saying: "Who is Tulsi to dictate to us?" There are more than two crore Sikhs in India who want a separate law for the registration of marriages in the community, he said. Condemning Tulsi's take on the Act, DSGMC president Paramjit Singh Sarna too was quick to clarify: "I differ with Tulsi."

"We have a separate religion and registering our marriages under the Hindu Marriage Act is like living under oppression. It hurts when we are referred to as a part of Hindu society." Though he reiterated the need the Act in India, he was unable to explain his failure to take the initiative (of getting a separate Sikh Marriage Act implemented) here. "It was Pakistan that had first started Punjabi radio programme. We thought that after the (Sikh Marriage) Act is implemented in Pakistan, India would follow suite."

• Anand Karaj: statutory recognition during the British rule in India by the Anand Marriage Act 1909.