AMRITSAR: Stating that his first and foremost concern was to free the SGPC from the clutches of politicians, former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and senior advocate H S Phoolka said on Saturday that he was hopeful of raising a force of 5,000 volunteers for the Sikh Sewak Army (SSA) within a month.Talking to TOI, Phoolka said SSA was the volunteer wing of his newly formed non-political group, Sikh Sewak Sangathan (SSS). He said the organisation would work to end the politicalisation SGPC and make Punjab free of drugs.When asked about how he would fund the SSA, Phoolka said there was no need of funds for now, and he and his associates would arrange the “small amount” which would be required. “In future, we will get our activities of SSA sponsored . My style of working is that I don’t collect funds; I get them sponsored,” he said.The senior advocate was here to seek blessings pay obeisance at the Golden Temple before beginning online registration of SSA.Talking about the grand alliance in the making, he said he did not intend to join politics for now. “Neither am I going to contest Lok Sabha elections nor will I contest the SGPC elections,” he said, adding that he and SSA would concentrate on SGPC . “We will bring awareness among Sikh SGPC voters and will support the right candidates during SGPC elections,” he added.He explained that there would be two units of SSA . While the first unit would work to end the control of politicians over SGPC and will have unshorn Sikh youth as members, teh second one would work towards ending the drug menace in Punjab.He said anyone who believed in the ideology of SSA could become its member. He said once SSA would be ready, its volunteers would visit each and every village of Punjab to bring awareness about freeing SGPC from clutches of politicians.He said the second unit would launch a mass movement against drugs in the state. Meanwhile, Phoolka on Saturday began the online registration of volunteers for SSA.‘Who are these anti-Sikh forces’Reacting to former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal’s jibe that anti-Sikh forces were using him, senior advocate H S Phoolka said the SAD president should first explain who are “those anti-Sikh forces”. “If he thinks religious people who propagate Sikhism are anti-Sikhs, and if he thinks that I am close to Sikh preachers or Sant Samaj and they are anti-Sikh, then let Sukhbir say whatever he thinks,” he said.

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