Won’t allow release of ‘Nanak Shah Fakir’: Parallel ‘jathedars’

THE ‘ORDER’ COMES AFTER THE SGPC WROTE TO THE CENTRE AND THE STATE GOVERNMENT TO HALT SCREENING OF THE MOVIE, SET FOR RELEASE ON APRIL 13

AMRITSAR : Issuing an ‘hukamnama’ (religious decree) against the movie, 'Nanak Shah Fakir', parallel ‘jathedars’ appointed at the Radical Sarbat Khalsa in 2015 stated that they will not allow the movie to be screened in cinemas at any cost.

The ‘order’ comes after the SGPC wrote to the Centre and the state government to halt screening of the movie, set for release on April 13. It was issued after a meeting at the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs. The acting parallel jathedar of the Akal Takht, Dhian Singh Mand, and the parall jathedar of Takht Sri Damdama Sahib issued the decree.

Terming this movie as blasphemy as per Sikh tenets, they said, “The personification of the Sikh Gurus and other respected great Sikhs cannot be allowed. The Sikh community had restrained its producer, Harinder Singh Sikka, from releasing the movie in 2015. However, he has come again to hurt Sikh sentiments.” “Sikhs across the world should take legal measures against the producer,” Mand added, while reading out the decree outside the Golden Temple.

Even as the SGPC does not recognise them and the two bodies are not on the best of terms, the parallel jathedars ordered the apex gurdwara body to act to ensure that the release of the movie is halted. They also ‘directed’ the body to constituted a Sikh censor board, comprising Sikh intellectuals, to review the movies on Sikhs in light of Sikh tenets. They also appealed to the Sikh community to stay united on the issue and make ‘sincere efforts to stop of the release of the movie’.