SGPC men under lens over PDF file of the holy book

AKAL TAKHT GIVES SATNAM PARCHAR RELIGIOUS SOCIETY PROMOTERS 15-DAYS TO NAME THE SOURCE OF PDF FILE

AMRITSAR : When the row over missing Guru Granth Sahib’s saroops is refusing to die down, the role of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) functionaries has again come under scanner over unauthorised printing of birs in Surrey, Canada.

In the heart of the new controversy is a pen drive carrying the PDF (portable document format) file of the Guru Granth Sahib that was used to print the saroops. It is being checked if the PDF file was provided by someone from the SGPC, which appears to be the case as the gurdwara body is the sole custodian of material and machines related to printing of birs, sources said.

The saroops were printed illegally by Satnam Parchar Religious Society represented by Ripudaman Singh Malik and Balwant Singh Pandher in violation of Akal Takht’s 1998 edict that authorises only the SGPC to print saroops or give permission to any other to do so.

The Akal Takht had on August 24 ordered Malik and Pandher to send a clarification, besides the printed saroops and related material to Gurdwara Guru Nanak, Surrey-Delta.

61 saroops surrendered

On Thursday, Akal Takht acting jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh said 61 saroops and other printing items and machines have been received by Hardeep Singh Nijjar, president of the managing committee of the gurdwara, as ordered. Besides, he said, Nijjar has also been handed over a pen drive containing the PDF file of Guru Granth Sahib, which was used to print the saroops.

Giani Harpreet Singh has asked Malik and Pandher to divulge the source of the pen drive in 15 days to Akal Takht secretariat, Amritsar.

Nijjar has already demanded that the role of SGPC functionaries be probed fairly, saying some of the people who carried out the binding of the saroops in Surrey were once associated with the SGPC.