Sunday, December 9, 2007

No need of Sikh Marriage Act: Tulsi

ATTARI:
The adult male who dared to dispute Gujerat head curate Narinder Modi's
Sohrabuddin Sheik remark, KTS Tulsi have now raised the dander of the Sikh
clergy by raising expostulations over a separate Act for enrollment of Sikh
marriages in India. "We follow
all Hindoo traditions," the Gujerat government's particular advocate in Supreme
Court, KTS Tulsi, told TOI here on Saturday. Tulsi was portion of the deputation of
senior Sikh advocators and intellects that left for Islamic Republic Of Pakistan along with a
draft proposal of Sikh Marriage Act. The delegation, led by Old Delhi Sikh Gurdwara
Management Committee (DSGMC), returned on
Saturday. Hindus and Sikhs
share the same basic values and the statuses for a valid marriage, evidence for
judicial separation and process for divorcement by common consent, among others,
are included in the Hindoo Marriage Act, he said. "There's not much demand for a
Sikh Marriage Act in India," he
added. However, he clarified,
there was an pressing demand for such as a statute law outside India. In other
countries, he claimed, Sikhs don't have got any personal law and their issues get
intermingled with the laws of societies they dwell in, he said. "It (Sikh
Marriage Act) would turn out to be a blessing for misses who are married abroad and are
subjected to torment or are abandoned by their husbands. There is a likelihood
of other states 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 order to us?" There are more than than two crore Sikhs
in Republic Of India who desire a separate law for the enrollment of matrimonies in the
community, he said. Condemning Tulsi's return on the Act, DSGMC president Paramjit
Singh Sarna too was speedy to clarify: "I differ with Tulsi. We have got a separate
religion and registering our matrimonies under the Hindoo Marriage Act is like
living under oppression. It aches when we are referred to as a portion of Hindu
society." Though he reiterated
the demand the Act in India, he was not able to explicate his failure to take the
initiative (of getting a separate Sikh Marriage Act implemented) here. "It was
Pakistan that had first started Panjabi radiocommunication programme. We thought that after
the (Sikh Marriage) Act is implemented in Pakistan, Republic Of India would follow
suite."

1 comment:

Puneet said...

I was researching Sikh laws on marriage after reading an article, and came across your blog. Quite insightful!

See if you can get a hold of this article; "India's newly wealthy married to extravagant ceremonies"" by Laurie Goering. I read it in The Sunday Star-Ledger (New Jersey). Apparently there is a link between "dowry deaths" and money spent on wedding processions, which is why the New Delhi Sikh temple management committee set forth many severe limitations. Something to be looked into, no doubt..