Barred at Takht, dhadis sing on Heritage Street in protest
PERFORMANCE THAT WAS DAILY FEATURE AT TEMPORAL SEAT WAS SUSPENDED ON MAY 1 OVER CONFLICT ON TIME ALLOTMENT BETWEEN THE TWO FACTIONS
AMRITSAR: Barred from staging their traditional ‘diwan’ at Akal Takht, a faction of ‘dhadis’ on Saturday staged their concert on the Heritage Street near Golden Temple in protest.
The diwan, which had been a daily feature at the highest temporal seat of Sikhs from 9am to 4 pm, was suspended on May 1 on the direction of Akal Takht jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh, allegedly after a conflict over the time allotment between the two factions of dhadis — Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib Shiromani Dhadi Sabha and Miri Piri Shiromani Dhadi Sabha.
Dhadis are traditional performers who sing ballads of war heroes with a sarangi, a stringed instrument, and a dhad, a small drum.
After the takht’s decision, members of Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib Shiromani Dhadi Sabha, led by Giani Baldev Singh MA, conducted a meeting on Friday and decided to hold daily diwans outside the Golden Temple complex till the jathedar does not revoke his decision.
On Saturday, the dhadis staged a diwan for half an hour on the Heritage Street outside the Dharam Singh market.
On the jathedar’s directions on May 1, the Dharam Parchar wing of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) had asked the dhadis to shift the venue of the diwan to Manji Sahib Diwan Hall in the Golden Temple complex.
However, Giani Baldev Singh said there is no conflict between the two factions.
“This is nothing but a deeprooted conspiracy to ruin the centuries-old Sikh tradition.”
He said the move of shifting the venue is unfair as the sixth Sikh master Guru Hargobind had started the diwan of dhadis at the Akal Takht. He alleged that a close relative of the jathedar, who is also the latter’s personal assistant, is behind the conspiracy.
Meanwhile, the Dharam Parchar wing has put up a banner on a wall of the Akal Takht, informing the sangat about the shifting of venue. It says the venue has been shifted for the convenience of sangat.
However, the office of the Akal Takht said the decision has been taken due to a dispute over performance hours between the two factions of dhadis.