Akal Takht summons Taksal’s media adviser

AMRITSAR:AKAL Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs, has summoned Sikh seminary Damdami Taksal’s media adviser Sarchand Singh on August 22 for his alleged role in granting pardon to excommunicated former Akali minister Sucha Singh Langah. Besides, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has taken action against its five employees for their involvement in the pardon row.

Langah, who also served as a member of the SGPC, was excommunicated in October 2017 as the Sikh clergy found him guilty of misconduct and violation of the Sikh tenets after a video allegedly showing him in an objectionable position with a woman was widely shared on social media. He was pardoned by the ‘panj pyaras’ (five beloved ones of the Guru) at Gurdwara Baba Banda

Singh Bahadar in Gurdaspur district on August 3.

Jaspal Singh, personal assistant of Akal Takht acting jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh said: “He (Sarchand Singh) has been asked to submit his clarification on August 22. If his reply is unsatisfactory, the five Sikh clergies will take action as per the maryada.”

People privy to the development in the Akal Takht secretariat said the jathedar, after going through media reports, got Sarchand’s

role probed in the pardon row. Sarchand has also been president of Sikh Students Federation (SSF) and media adviser to former Akali minister and incumbent MLA Bikram Singh Majithia.

Meanwhile, acting on a report of the probe panel, SGPC has taken departmental action against five of its employees for their involvement in the pardon row. Mahinder Singh Ahli, personal secretary to SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal, said two managers of historic gurdwaras — Ranjit Singh (Gurdwara Burj Sahib, Dhariwal, Gurdaspur district), and Jagdish Singh (Barath Sahib, Pathankot district) — have been shifted to Haryana. The former has been shifted to Gurdwara Patshahi Chhevin, Thanesar, Kurukshetra, as supervisor, while the latter to Gurdwara Dhamdhan Sahib, Jind, as assistant manager.