Linking Guru Gobind Singh with Ramayana unfortunate: SGPC

AMRITSAR: Four days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the book titled ‘The Ramayan of Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji’, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) said linking the name of the 10th Sikh Guru with Ramayana is “unfortunate”.

Modi on Friday received the first copy of the book written by late Baljit Kaur Tulsi, mother of Rajya Sabha MP and noted lawyer KTS Tulsi. The book has been published by Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi, and Tulsi personally presented the book to the PM.

In a statement issued by the apex gurdwara body, honorary chief secretary Harjinder Singh Dhami said, “Linking Ramayana to Guru Gobind Singh has hurt Sikh sentiments. Guru Gobind Singh in the Dasam Granth’s ‘Chaubis Avatar (24 Sanatani incarnations)’ section mentioned only different avtars.”

“We demand an immediate ban on the book and appeal to the community to be vigilant,” Dhami said.

‘Punjabi varsity should liaise on ‘Mahan Kosh’

Dhami urged the vice-chancellor of Punjabi University, Patiala, to liaise with the SGPC and start reprinting the ‘Mahan Kosh’ (encyclopedia of Sikhism) created by Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha.

“The Mahan Kosh printed by the Punjabi University, Patiala, had a number of mistakes and its sale was stopped by the Punjab and Haryana High Court after objections. Later, the university stopped printing it,” he said. “The Mahan Kosh is an important document for the Sikhs and must be preserved in its original form. The varsity should reprint it after liaising with the SGPC to avoid controversy,” added Dhami.