CHANDIGARH (TIP): A 10-member committee formed by Akal Takht today met Sikh leaders of Haryana who have been demanding a separate body to manage the affairs of gurudwaras in the state, and offered them greater autonomy in handling the shrines.

The Haryana leaders have sought time till June 4 to think on the “proposals”. The votaries of the separate SGPC for Haryana were invited for deliberations by the Sikh clergy in Amritsar yesterday, but they had stayed away giving various reasons.

Following this, Giani Gurbachan Singh, the ‘Jathedar’ of the Akal Takht, had yesterday constituted the committee to visit Gurudwara Cheevin Patshahi, Kurukshetra, in a bid to convince the leaders spearheading the campaign for a separate body to withdraw their demand. Akal Takht is the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs.

“We had detailed discussion with them (the Akal Takht committee) on a range of issues. “The crux of our meeting is that they (SGPC) have offered greater autonomy to us (in running the affairs of gurudwaras in Haryana) while overall control will remain with the (Amritsar-based) SGPC,” said Didar Singh Nalwi, one of the prominent leaders who is at the forefront of the campaign for a separate SGPC for Haryana.