Akal Takht declares SGPC member, aide of Langah ‘tankhaiya’
AMRITSAR: Akal Takht on Tuesday pronounced Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) member Gurinderpal Singh Gora and another member’s husband Rattan Singh Jaffarwal ‘tankhaiya’ (guilty of religious misconduct) for playing a role in granting pardon to former Akali minister Sucha Singh Langah, who had been excommunicated by the Sikhism’s highest temporal seat.
Langah who served as SGPC member, was excommunicated by the Akal Takht after a video made rounds of social media in 2017 wherein he allegedly was seen getting intimate with a woman outside of marriage. Langah was pardoned during ‘amrit sanchar’ at Gurdwara Baba Banda Singh Bahadur in Gurdaspur district on Monday even though the shrine is managed by the apex gurdwara body.
After there was a hue and cry over the pardon which was seen as a ‘challenge’ to the authority of Akal Takht, its jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh called an emergency meeting of the Panj Singh Sahiban (five Sikh clergymen) on Tuesday. After the meeting, the jathedar pronounced Gora and Jaffarwal ‘tankhaiya’.
Gora, former executive member of the gurdwara body, and Jaffarwal, former member of SGPC’S dharam parchar committee, were present on the premises of the gurdwara when the ceremony to pardon Langah was held. Their pictures with Langah on the occasion also surfaced. Akal Takht also directed the SGPC to expel Gora from all the sub-committees and the gurdwara body immediately complied with the order. On another direction of Takht, SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal said action will be taken against gurdwara body’s officials and employees who are found cosying up with Langah. He said a sub-committee will be held soon to check on it.
The Takht also directed the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) to identify its leaders who are ‘cooperating’ with Langah and expel them from the party.
On the complaint of a woman, who is a Punjab Police constable, Langah was booked under Sections 376 (rape), 384 (extortion), 420 (cheating) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC. In 2018, Langah was acquitted by a Gurdaspur court after the woman said that she had filed the complaint under pressure.
PANJ PYARAS TENDER APOLOGY
The ‘panj pyaras’, who belong to a ‘nihang’ organisation and had exonerated Langah, appeared before the Sikh clergy at Takht to tender an apology. “We have committed this mistake but not deliberately. We are dedicated to Akal Takht and accept whatever its verdict is,” said one of them. Their head named Baba Tarsem Singh, who is considered close to Langah, didn’t show up.