Sikh delegation meets Khursheed on Anand Marriage Act

Sarna-led Sikh delegation meets Salman Khursheed; gets ‘positive’ response

Chandigarh, September 8
If assurances given by Union Law Minister Salman Khursheed to a delegation of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee is any indication, the Anand Marriage Act may become a reality soon.
Talking to The Tribune over the phone, DSGMC chief Paramjit Singh Sarna said Khursheed assured him and the delegation that there would be neither any further complication nor any delay in getting the Anand Marriage Bill passed by Parliament.
During their 40-minute meeting with Salman Khursheed this morning, members of the delegation apprised him of the anguish amongst the Sikhs over his reported statement rejecting the demand for the Anand Marriage Act.
“There has been a widespread resentment amongst the Sikhs as the previous Union Law Minister V Moily had told newsmen that draft of the Anand Marriage Bill has been approved and was pending the Cabinet clearance before its introduction in Parliament. We also told him that earlier UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, too, had assured the DSGMC delegation of getting the Anand Marriage Act approved at the earliest,” Sarna said.
Sarna said Khursheed admitted that when the issue about the Anand Marriage Act was raised in Parliament, he made the statement without going through the file. The Union Law Minister also regretted making the statement that hurt the sentiments of the Sikh community, said Paramjit Singh Sarna.
He reportedly told the DSGMC delegation that since he himself belonged to a minority, he could understand the hurt it may have caused to the Sikh community. “I hold the Sikh community in high esteem for the numerous sacrifices it had made in the country’s freedom struggle, besides helping the country become self sufficient in food,” Khursheed told the delegation.
The DSGMC delegation also submitted a memorandum to Khursheed. Only yesterday, Punjab MP Partap Singh Bajwa had also met Khursheed and apprised him of the background and the history of the Anand Marriage Act. Bajwa also urged the Law Minister to get the draft vetted soon before getting it cleared from the Cabinet so that it could be placed in Parliament without any further delay.