Sikhs upset over Khalsa row

DOWNFALL Critics of fired chief allege he did not stick to the ideals of imparting education, propagating Sikhism

CHANDIGARH: The oldest institution of the Sikhs — the Chief Khalsa Diwan (CKD) — has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons and the community is in shock. In the last week of December, the body’s 83-year-old chief Charanjit Singh Chadha was caught on camera purportedly sexually harassing a woman principal of one the 50 schools run by the institution.

The next day, Chadha was removed from the top post and primary membership of the body, and a case of sexual harassment was filed against him. His son Inderpreet was also booked for criminal intimidation.

But instead of surrendering to the police, Chadha went into hiding. On Thursday, he got interim bail till January 10.

As the community was reeling from the controversy, fresh tragedy hit on Wednesday when Inderpreet allegedly killed himself. The police charged 11 people for abetting the suicide, including three members of the CKD and the woman complainant.

“Chadha is a very ambitious man. With such people entering Sikh institutions, the teaching standards have gone down and the Sikh character of these institutions is getting diluted,” said former pro-vice chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University Prithipal Singh Kapur.

“The incident has hurt social Sikh spectrum. If the institutions get such heads, then who will the community emulate?” he asked.

Chadha migrated from Rawalpindi in Pakistan in 1947 and settled down in Amritsar. He had stakes in the hospitality business, was a wine contractor and also a real estate developer. A relative of liquor baron Ponty Chadha who was killed in 2012, Chadha took over the reins of the CKD after a struggle in 2004.

Chief Khalsa Diwan (CKD) was founded in 1902 to bind the Singh Sabha movement that had been launched during the British rule to propagate Sikhism. The body — which runs two management colleges, a nursing college, an orphanage, two old age homes and a hospital — is considered a forerunner for the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandhak Committee (SGPC) that

Lehar, a Sikh movement, started in Punjab in the 1870s to stop British efforts to spread Christianity in colonial India. This movement transcended into Chief Khalsa Diwan (CKD) under the tutelage of Bhai Vir Singh (1872-1957), a prominent

Punjabi litterateur. He was never a member of the organisation, but gave ideas and donated money

was central to the movement. Its primary aim was to safeguard spiritual, intellectual, moral, social, educational and economic welfare of the Sikhs as well as their political rights

is an elected organisation under the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925. Hence, the Union government has a say in it. Its primary task is to manage historic Sikh shrines in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh

has no such mandate. It stays away from politics, though politicians are called to its functions manages top gurdwaras, including the Golden Temple. Eminent theologian Bhai Veer Singh founded the CKD.

“It is a case of upstarts in different businesses seeking respectability by taking over the managements of such established institutions by paying money,” Kapur added.

The controversial video that allegedly shows Chadha sexually harassing the woman is from June last year and sources say Chadha has been black-

pressed for the Anand marriage act, which was passed in 1905. It took part in the Gurdwara reforms movement and made efforts to promote Punjabi literature, publishing magazines and books

runs 47 schools affiliated to the CBSE and ICSE; two management and technology institutes, a school for preparing Sikh preachers; a coaching centre; a nursing college; an orphanage; two old-age homes; two hospitals; a sarai or inn; and a gurdwara in Punjab

Singh, who killed General EH Dyer for ordering the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, lived in Amritsar’s CKD’S orphanage mailed since then.

People close to the 83-year-old told HT that Chadha paid up a few times, but went to the police after repeated demands. In September, the police arrested an employee in Chadha’s hotel and a photographer. Roughly two months later, the video went public.

Chadha remains close to the Sikh clergy — the Jathedar of the highest temporal seat of Sikhs, the Akal Takht. Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh attended the wedding of Chadha’s grandson at budget for the 2017-18 fiscal Bhai Arjan Singh Baghria, the founder president

Baghel Singh

Shivdev Singh Raees

Harbans Singh Attari

Basakha Singh BS Mangal Singh Mann a gurdwara in Dubai.

Chadha shot into the limelight after taking over as the CKD president with the support of then Akal Takht jathedar Joginder Singh Vedanti in 2004. Gradually, he built his monopoly over the 115-year-old organisation.

The suicide of his 52-year-old son on January 3 made matters worse. Inderpreet was accused of threatening to eliminate the woman complainant.

Chadha’s opponents allege he turned the CKD into “Chadha and Company” and did not stick to the aim of imparting education and propagating Sikhism.

“It is unfortunate, that such a thing has cropped up in the Sikh institution. Such an act, if true, is not acceptable in the religious institutions...” said Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee president Maniit Singh GK.