Amritsar, Apr 21 (PTI) Jathedar Akal Takht Giani Harpreet Singh on Thursday said to gain the trust of the Sikhs, the central government should fulfill every promise made to the community since the partition of the country in 1947.

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami too appealed to the Centre to resolve the issues of the Sikhs on the occasion of the 400 Parkash Purb (birth anniversary) of Guru Tegh Bahadur.

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The two were speaking here in connection with the 400th birth anniversary celebrations of the ninth Sikh Guru.

In his address, Giani Harpreet Singh said, "The motive of the martyrdom of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib Ji was to provide right to practice the faith/religion to everyone but today in India, by going against the ideology of the Guru Sahib, the religious beliefs of minorities are being suppressed.”

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"Sikh issues are not being resolved. The promises made to the Sikhs since the partition of the country in 1947 to date have not been fulfilled and that is why there is an environment of disbelief among Sikhs," said the Jathedar of Akal Takht, the Sikh temporal seat.

He said to gain the trust of the Sikhs, the Central government should fulfill every promise made to the community since the partition of the country.

Dhami also appealed to the Centre to resolve the issues of the Sikhs.

"Today when the Union government was also organising ceremonies at the Red Fort in Delhi, it would have been better if the Prime Minister releases the Sikh prisoners, hands over the management of various Sikh shrines in the country to the Sikhs and announce to take concrete steps against hate crime attacks in the country," he said.

He said the ninth Guru had raised his voice against those who were suppressing the values of ‘dharma' (righteousness).

"But today the followers of the Guru's faith are being prevented from guarding the beliefs of their faith in the country.”

Dhami said the Sikhs are being deliberately harassed by making unnecessary issues with Kirpan, one of five ‘Kakaars' (symbols of Sikh faith) or turban, and sadly such incidents are not being stopped despite several written communications to the governments.

He appealed to the government to adopt a sincere approach on these issues.

"Today, during the concluding congregation organised by SGPC dedicated to 400th Parkash Purb centenary of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji, the ninth Guru and his 401st Parkash Purb on Thursday, a message has been sent to the government of India to adopt a sincere approach for immediately resolving long-pending issues of Sikhs," Dhami said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)