AKAL TAKHT DECLARES US SIKH PUBLISHER ‘TANKHAIYA’
AMRITSAR: The Akal Takht on Tuesday declared a US-based Sikh publisher, Thaminder Singh Anand, a “tankhaiya” (guilty of religious misconduct) for making distortions in the Gurbani (hymns) and asked the community to boycott him till he appears before the Takht to apologise for his offence.
The distortion had come to light recently, leading to objections from Sikh bodies across the world. The Akal Takht, which is the highest temporal seat of Sikhism, listened to various stakeholders from the community on Tuesday before reaching its decision.
Pronouncing the decision, acting jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh said: “Thaminder Singh is held guilty of making changes in the Gurbani on his own. Considering the sentiments of the Panth, Akal Takht Sahib bans offline and online publishing of Gurbani by him. He is directed to appear before the Takht, give his explanation and disclose the persons behind him within a month. He is also directed to present related records at the Takht. Until he does it, he will remain a ‘tankhaiya’.”
According to the SGPC, Anand is associated with US-based organisation Sikh Book Club that runs a website on Sikh literature. According to the allegation, he had added an extra “lagan-matravan” (suprasegmental symbols of Gurmukhi) by changing the original verses of Gurbani.
Another man, Onkar Singh, was also directed to stop his activities of changing “laganmatravan” in the original verses of Gurbani in the name of amendments and appear before the Takht with an explanation.