Govt, Akal Takht fail to break deadlock over joint event again

BLAME GAME Randhawa says jathedar gave time for meeting but didn’t reach; jathedar says had no information

AMRITSAR : The fault line between Punjab government and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on hosting joint celebrations of parkash purb in Sultanpur Lodhi only got deeper as a meeting scheduled between the state government and Akal Takht Jathedar failed to take place on Monday.

State jails and cooperation minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and his cabinet colleague Charanjit Singh Channi, both representatives of state government in the coordination committee formed by Akal Takht for a joint event, were in Amritsar on Monday to meet Giani Harpreet Singh, the acting jathedar of the takht.

“Channi and I went to meet jathedar sahib who had given Channi time. But I don’t know why the jathedar didn’t meet us,” said Randhawa.

Both Punjab government and SGPC have been accusing each other for sabotaging the efforts of joint function.

The apex gurdwara body and state government have held three rounds of talks to reach consensus on a single event to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, but none bore fruit with both parties sticking to their guns.

While the state government has already set up a pandal for the function, SGPC is learnt to have given the contract worth crores of rupees to a private firm for their pandal.

“Channi had told me over the phone that the jathedar had twice given him a time for the meeting, but the meeting could not be held. I don’t know what is the jathedar sahib’s helplessness, or maybe he was somewhere else,” said Randhawa.

However, Giani Harpreet Singh denied having scheduled a meeting. He said, “He had not taken any time from me. I have no information about him visiting me. I had to reach here in the evening but I got a message from Singh Sahib seeking my presence at the nagar kirtan. I am here till Tuesday, if he wishes to meet me, he can come here,” said jathedar.

Randhawa said, “Captain Amarinder Singh has asked me to accompany Channi so I reached Amritsar on Sunday night. On Monday, Channi told me that the jathedar has not reached Amritsar. I asked Channi to inform me about the time fixed for next meeting,” said Randhawa. Channi, however, could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

The jathedar condemned statements being issued by political leaders on the issue of joint celebrations. “We are keeping hope that a solution will be carved out and only one stage will be made,” he said.

“The programmes have been scheduled from November 1, and it will be our topmost priority to end the deadlock with the state government before October 31,” he said, adding, “If the need arises, I will try my best to persuade SGPC in this regard.”

› No one took any time from me; I have no information about the visit. Since the events begin on Nov 1, we want to end the deadlock before Oct 31. GIANI HARPREET SINGH, acting jathedar, Akal Takht › Channi said Jathedar sahib had given him time, but I don’t know why he didn’t meet us. I don’t know what the jathedar sahib’s issue is. SUKHJINDER SINGH RANDHAWA, jails and co-op minister, Punjab