Chandigarh, March 29 -- The issue of the removal of three jathedars by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) was raised in the Punjab Assembly on Friday with ruling and opposition MLAs denouncing the move.

Education minister Harjot Singh Bains, during Zero Hour on the last day of the assembly, demanded a discussion over the issue.

He was joined by Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) legislator Manpreet Singh Ayali, who criticised the removal of three jathedars of the temporal seats of the Sikhs by SGPC and said that the SAD leadership neither accepted the edict nor approved the committee.

Ayali, who is elected MLA from Dakha, is one of the three SAD MLAs in the 117-member Punjab assembly. The other MLAs are Ganieve Kaur Majithia and...