Gurbani telecast row: SGPC, SAD blast AAP govt on Gurdwara (Amendment) Bill

Special general session of SGPC on June 26 to discuss issue It's an attack on the SGPC by the government and the Sikh community will never forget it, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami said.

SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami (PTI)

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The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Tuesday came down heavily on the AAP dispensation after the Punjab Vidhan Sabha passed the amendment bill to the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925.

While the SGPC rejected the Sikh Gurdwara (Amendment) Bill, 2023, outright and called for a special general session of the apex Sikh body on June 26 to discuss the burning issue, the SAD described the government’s legislative move as “a provocative and brazen interference in the religious affairs of the Khalsa Panth and an assault on the Sikh religious institutions.

At a press conference in Amritsar, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami said that this day (June 20, 2023) will be remembered as a black-letter day in the 103-year-long history of SGPC, when the AAP government passed this ‘unconstitutional’ bill (in the Punjab Legislative Assembly) by directly meddling in the management of gurdwaras.

This will not be allowed to be implemented at any cost, he added.

It’s an attack on the SGPC by the government and the Sikh community will never forget it, Dhami said.

“This anti-Sikh move by the Punjab government led by Bhagwant Singh Mann will be tackled at all levels, for which a special general session of the SGPC has been called on June 26 at Teja Singh Samari Hall to decide the outline,” the SGPC president said, claiming that the community has never tolerated and will not tolerate government interference in Sikh religion and Sikh institutions.

He said that even at the time of establishment of the SGPC, the British government had set up a government committee, which the Sikhs rejected. They, in fact, set up their own committee of the community, he said. Now, the Punjab government led by CM Mann is walking the same path, he added.

Dhami said that if the Mann government tries to implement this ‘black law’, then the Sikh community knows how to deal with it.

Dhami said that the Punjab government is weakening the Sikh organisation by making Gurbani broadcast an issue. The SGPC is already working through a sub-committee on this matter, he added.

“This will never be tolerated. The Khalsa Panth knows how to safeguard the religious sovereignty of its shrines, institutions and traditions. We will fight it out at every level and will never allow the government to forcibly impose it on our religion,” the SAD said in a statement as senior party leaders Balwinder Singh Bhunder, Prem Singh Chandumajra and Daljeet Singh Cheema held a press conference in Chandigarh on Tuesday.

The party in the statement said, “The issue of Gurbani telecast was a mere ruse used by the anti-Sikh forces through this government. Their real intent is to usurp control of Sikh shrines and dilute the religious history, heritage, traditions and narrative of the Khalsa Panth. But we accept this challenge thrown at us by a stooge of anti-Sikh Arvind Kejriwal and we are ready for the fight.”

The Akali leaders cautioned Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann against “pushing an already anarchy-stricken Punjab into the flames of communal fire”.

The Akali leaders said, “The party would explore all avenues, including meeting the Union Home Minister and approaching the National Commission for Minorities. But if we don’t get justice there, then the SAD knows how to fight for justice. We will hit the streets if this attack on our religion is not stopped.”