HSGMC row: Stand-off continues over control of Sikh shrines

Amid the stand-off over control of Sikh shrines, warring factions of Sikh Gurdwara Management Committees from Haryana and Punjab refused to budge from their positions at a Gurdwara in Kurukshetra for the third day on Monday.

While workers owing allegiance to Amritsar-based Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee (SGPC) remained closeted in 'Chhevin Patshahi' Sikh shrine at Kurukshetra, several members of newly-formed Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) led by its leaders Jagdish Singh Jhinda and Didar Singh Nalwi remained squatted on the road close to the Gurudwara.

However, police said that the situation is under control as both the factions have assured of not indulging in any kind of violence.

HSGMC vice-president Didar Singh Nalwi told PTI overphone that their sit-in will remain "peaceful" and at no cost they will resort to violence.

"We will continue to build religious pressure onAmritsar-based SGPC," he said.

Nalwi said the Amritsar-based SGPC workers sitting inside the Gurudwara are "intruders". "They are intruders...now they have started feeling alienated and will vacate the Gurudwara themselves," he said.