SGPC cuts off power, water supply to exjathedar’s house
ORDERS TO VACATE The move comes days after Sukhbir Badal was questioned on Gurmukh Singh’s allegations that previous govt orchestrated pardon to Sirsa dera head
AMRITSAR :The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Sunday disconnected power and water supply to the house of former Takht Sri Damdama Sahib jathedar Giani Gurmukh Singh. His family has also been asked to vacate the house.
Gurmukh Singh was not at home as he was transferred as the head priest of a gurdwara in Haryana in April this year.
The action comes days after Gurmukh Singh is reported to have clarified before the Akal Takht’s sacked Panj Piaras that the decision to pardon rape convict Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim by Sikh priest was a blunder committed under political influence. Akal Takht is the supreme temporal seat of Sikhs.
In April, he was shifted after levelling allegations that the Sikh clergy led by Akal Takht jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh pardoned dera chief on directions of the then Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal and son Sukhbir, the then deputy chief minister.
Gurmukh Singh was among the five high priests who was among the five high priests who had exonerated Dera Sacha Sauda head (and later revoked their decision) in 2015. The dera head has committed blasphemy in 2007 by dressing up as a Sikh guru.
Media questioning of Sukhbir on Friday precipitated action In what cannot entirely be dismissed entirely as coincidence, the SGPC action has come a day after the media grilled former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Gurmukh’s allegations that he (Sukhbir) and the previous regime had played in pardoning the dera chief.
In response to the media questioning, the SAD president had termed the ex-jathedar as a a liar. Sukhbir even claimed that Gurmukh had been sending him feelers on reinstatement as a jathedar.
Family sources have claimed that the minute Sukhbir’s press conference ended, they received calls from the SGPC to vacate the house. “On Sunday, Golden Temple manager Sulakhan Singh visited the house and got the water supply and electricity disconnected,” said Himmat Singh, brother of the former jathedar, who stays at the house.
GURMUKH SINGH WAS NOT AT HOME; WAS TRANSFERRED AS THE HEAD PRIEST OF A GURDWARA IN HARYANA IN APRIL THIS YEAR
‘CANNOT SHIFT, WILL LODGE COMPLAINT’ Citing the rule book, Gurmukh Singh claimed that the SGPC cannot evict him from the house till his son completes the current academic session, being in Class 12.
“I will lodge a police complaint. I cannot shift with family easily as my father is heart patient and mother is facing an ailment related to the brain. I am still serving under the SGPC as granthi. I am not a goon against which the SGPC is taking the action,” he added.