Akal Takht awards ‘tankhah’ to 39 Sikh leaders for seeking dera support
RELIGIOUS PUNISHMENT 21 ‘sabat soorat’ leaders will clean Golden Temple passage & do sewa at Langar Hall, 18 ‘patit’ leaders to perform sewa at gurdwaras in their constituencies
AMRITSAR: The Akal Takht on Monday handed out ‘tankhah’ (religious punishment) to 39 Sikh political leaders of SAD, Congress and AAP for violating Takht’s ‘hukumnama’ (edict) by seeking political support from the Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda in the recently held Punjab assembly elections.
Of the 44 leaders summoned by the Sikh high priests, four, including Rajinder Kaur Bhattal (Congress), Arjun Singh (Congress), Ajaib Singh Bhatti (Congress) and Janmeja Singh Sekhon (SAD), failed to turn up. SAD leader Manpreet Singh Ayaali was let off.
The Takht divided the leaders into two categories — ‘sabat soorat’ (those who don’t trim their hair) Sikhs and ‘patits’ ( who seldom observe the Khalsa code of conduct). Akal Takht jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh said the 21 ‘sabat soorat’ leaders were made to stand on the ground floor of the Takht and awarded ‘tankhah’. They were told to clean the passage leading to the Golden Temple from Gurdwara Saragarhi Sahib for a day. On another day, they would clean the parikrama of the Golden Temple. They would also perform ‘sewa’ at the Langar Hall and clean shoes of devotees for two hours each.
After completing this sewa, they would have to listen to kirtan at the Golden Temple for one hour, offer ~5,100 to the ‘golak’ and ~501 ‘karah parshad’ for atonement.
Among those who were handed out this punishment were Sikander Singh Maluka, Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Mantar Singh Brar, Surjit Rakhra, Jeetmohinder Sidhu and others.
The 18 ‘patit’ leaders were asked to perform sewa for 10 days (1 hour every day) at the gurdwaras located in their constituencies. Among the ‘patit’ leaders, 10 were from the Congress, 7 from the SAD while one was from the AAP. Prominent among them were Amarinder Raja Warring, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, Kewal Singh, Karan Kaur and others.
The row erupted after the Dera Sacha Sauda decided to support the Akali Dal in the February 4 assembly polls. Candidates from nine constituencies of Bathinda and Mansa districts attended a meeting organised by the dera’s religious wing at a banquet hall in Bathinda.
The Akali Dal went a step further and announced to facilitate dera “satsangs” in Punjab, in open defiance of the Akal Takht’s 2007 edict that Sikhs must boycott Sirsa dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.
Following directions of the Akal Takht jathedar, the SGPC on February 6 set up a probe committee that submitted its report on March 6. The report said 44 leaders had violated the “hukumnama” following which they were summoned.
AMRITSAR: Unhappy that Sikh high priests were meeting in a room and not at the Akal Takht, jathedar of Takht Damdama Sahib Giani Gurmukh Singh boycotted the meeting.
Jathedar Gurmukh Singh didn’t attend the meeting even after being requested by Akal Takht jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh. He said as per ‘maryada’, the meeting of the high priests has to take place at the Akal Takht. “Till the time meetings are held at the secretariat, I will not participate. My conscience doesn’t allow,” he said.
SUMMON BADALS TOO, DEMANDS CONGMEN
Congress leaders on Monday gave a memorandum to jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh and demanded that Badals must also be summoned. Congress MLA Amarinder Raja Warring said, “Everyone knows that dera supported SAD in the elections then why the Badals have not been called here?”