Chandigarh: On the final day of the three-day Shaheedi Jor Mela in Punjab’s Fatehgarh Sahib final week, Giani Harpreet Singh, the Jathedar (head of Sikh clergy) of the Akal Takht — the best temporal physique of the Sikhs — stunned everybody along with his fiery speech.
The Shaheedi Jor Mela is organised yearly to commemorate the martyrdom of Baba Zorawar Singh and Baba Fateh Singh, the youngest of the 4 Sahibzadas — sons of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth and final Guru of the Sikhs.
Normally, the Jathedar’s speech is restricted to a spiritual sermon. However this time, it struck a unique observe.
In his speech, the Jathedar known as for a whole ban on outsiders shopping for land in Punjab, condemned the mushrooming of church buildings within the state, and exhorted Sikh youth to not go overseas.
“You permit your homes and land right here to work in international international locations. Individuals from UP and Bihar will come and clutch your lands. Punjab will develop into the land of tobacco and bidis. Outsiders shouldn’t be allowed to purchase land in Punjab. The federal government must work on this,” Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh stated in his speech on the occasion, which is attended by lakhs of individuals.
He additionally warned the group in regards to the rising affect of the Pentecostal motion in Punjab, saying “church buildings are developing like mushrooms throughout the state”.
“If all of you go overseas, who shall be left right here to look at jor melas? You all want to consider this,” he stated.
Unusually offended and sharp, the speech comes not solely amid the waning affect of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) within the state but additionally the rising radicalism amongst a bit of Sikhs.
Specialists see it as half of a bigger effort by the Akal Takht and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), which manages Sikh locations of worship within the area, to regain misplaced floor, each spiritual and political.
“The agenda of the SGPC and the Akal Takht is clearly political — the right way to convey the Akali Dal out of the woods,” stated Dharam Singh, a former professor of Sikh Research at Punjabi College, Patiala, and the editor-in-chief of the Sikh Encyclopedia.
This isn’t the primary time that is occurring, he stated.
“This has occurred up to now when these Sikh spiritual establishments that are presupposed to have labored independently have come to the political help of the Shiromani Akali Dal,” he stated.
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Efforts to regain misplaced floor
Each the SGPC and the Akal Takht are, in precept, autonomous our bodies — whereas the latter is the best temporal seat of the Sikhs, the previous is liable for the administration of historic gurdwaras in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Chandigarh.
Nevertheless, the SAD, a celebration created within the Twenties because the political wing of the SGPC, has traditionally managed the functioning of each, regardless of criticism.
The previous few years have seen SAD’s political affect dwindle within the state — the get together has been out of energy for a decade now, with the 2022 meeting elections lowering it to a few seats.
As well as, the get together additionally broke its decades-long alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Celebration (BJP) in 2021 over protests in opposition to the Narendra Modi-led central authorities’s now-repealed farm payments.
Since then, ties between the BJP and the Akalis have been on a decline. Simply forward of the Shaheedi Jor Mela, the SGPC took on the Modi authorities for not having acceded to its demand of adjusting the title ‘Veer Bal Diwas’ to ‘Sahibzade Shahadat Diwas’.
For context, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had introduced in January final yr that 26 December can be noticed as Veer Bal Diwas to mark the sacrifice of the 4 Sahibzadas.
The SGPC has since objected to the title — in accordance with the Sikh physique, the title ‘Veer Bal Diwas’ hails the bravery of kids basically, thereby undermining the actual significance of the day.
This isn’t the one difficulty over which the previous allies have been at odds — the SGPC has additionally been accusing the BJP and the RSS of meddling in Sikh affairs.
Final November, when the Haryana Speaker demanded land for a separate Vidhan Sabha in Haryana and Punjab’s shared capital Chandigarh, the SGPC objected, reiterating SAD’s stand that the town belonged to Punjab.
The SGPC’s proactive stance on core Sikh points can be being seen as a response to a rising radical sentiment amongst a bit of the Sikhs, specifically, the rise of Amritpal Singh Sandhu, a self-proclaimed Sikh preacher.
Sandhu, who left behind his household’s transport enterprise in Dubai to maneuver to Punjab, has been travelling across the state with a band of armed males since October.
In his speeches, he exhorts the Sikh youth to surrender medicine, weaponise themselves, observe Sikhism in its most orthodox type by baptising themselves (known as ‘amrit sanchar’), and work in direction of the creation of Khalistan — an autonomous Sikh state.
Final month, Sandhu began the primary section of Khalsa vaheer (march), ranging from the Akal Takht in Amritsar.
Throughout the march that ended at Anandpur Sahib 10 days in the past, Sandhu and his group vandalised two gurdwaras in Kapurthala and Jalandhar, pulling out chairs and benches from contained in the gurdwaras and setting them on hearth. They justified these acts by saying that sitting inside a gurdwara on the identical stage because the Guru Granth Sahib is a violation of the Sikh ethical code.
Though it condemned the vandalism, the SGPC reiterated the necessity to observe the Sikh maryada, or ethical code.
“Such controversies inside the Sikh group are very worrying and points associated to maryada must be resolved collectively by dialogue,” the SGPC stated in a assertion after its Dharam Parchar Committee assembly on 16 December.
“Akal Takht has given steering sometimes to resolve issues of maryada of sangat (congregation) inside the gurdwara. Nevertheless, the incident in Jalandhar has critically damage the emotions of the Sikh group, and has additionally compelled them to brainstorm additional,” the assertion added.
In November, Sandhu spoke out in opposition to an upcoming Punjabi movie Dastaan-E-Sirhind, a hybrid — cinematic and animated — film on the lifetime of the 4 Sahibzadas. He stated that the faith doesn’t allow the depiction of Sikh Gurus or their households in movies in any type.
On 30 November, because the row escalated, the SGPC requested the Punjab authorities to ban the discharge of the movie. Lower than a fortnight later, the Sikh physique banned the portrayal of Sikh Gurus and their members of the family via all types of media, together with movies.
The SGPC stated the choice was taken after a number of Sikh our bodies, pupil our bodies held protests and submitted their written objections to SGPC. Following which, the matter was mentioned within the Dharam Prachar Committee of SGPC.
Nevertheless, consultants say that SGPC’s resolution to toe the unconventional line doesn’t bode nicely for Sikhism.
“Regardless of the SGPC and Akal Takht are doing, the ultimate outcome shall be that it’s going to develop into nearly inconceivable for anybody to observe the Sikh faith as they need it to be adopted. There shall be so many dos and don’ts,” professor Dharam Singh, quoted earlier, instructed ThePrint.
Equally, the Akal Takht’s dealing with of an influence tussle within the administration board at Takht Sri Patna Sahib — one of many 5 temporal seats of Sikhism — was seemingly a mirrored image of this rising must make its presence felt.
Invoking his supreme authority, Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh introduced a slew of selections — together with declaring a former Jathedar a ‘tankhaiya’ (spiritual sinner) and ordering dope exams for gurdwara staff.
The SGPC has additionally been spearheading a marketing campaign to demand the launch of the “Bandi Singhs”, or Sikh prisoners nonetheless lodged in numerous jails throughout the nation for nearly three many years regardless of finishing their sentences.
The SAD, the SGPC, and the Akal Takht are all making an attempt to regain their misplaced credibility, Amarjit Singh, head of Guru Nanak Research at Amritsar’s Guru Nanak Dev College, stated.
“Whereas all of them have been proactively speaking about numerous Sikh points, their credibility continues to be very low. They’re largely seen to be doing solely lip service, giving statements right here and there, and never following them up with concrete motion,” Singh instructed ThePrint.
Cosying up with the ‘radicals’
Other than advocating such points, the 2 Sikh our bodies, in addition to the Akali Dal, appear to be warming up to the radicals who performed a task in Punjab’s militancy.
In June, a portrait of Dilawar Singh, the murderer of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh was put up on the Central Sikh Museum contained in the Golden Temple in Amritsar. For the SGPC, Dilawar Singh is Quami Shaheed, or the group’s martyr — an “honour” additionally bestowed upon Sikh militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale by the Akal Takht.
In June final yr, the Akalis had fielded Kamaldeep Kaur Rajoana, the sister of late Punjab chief minister Beant Singh’s murderer Balwant Singh Rajoana, for the Sangrur Lok Sabha election by-election.
In early November, senior SAD leaders, together with its president Sukhbir Singh Badal, and Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh attended the marriage of Bhindranwale’s grandson.
Then Monday, Badal visited the household of Satwant Singh, one of many assassins of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Sikh scholar Gurtej Singh blamed the rising radicalism within the state on the vacuum that SAD’s declining affect has created.
“It’s apparent that the SGPC is not going to need their authority wrested from them by a band of radicals. However they’ve nobody however themselves accountable for creating this vacuum by which the so-called radicalisation is going down,” Gurtej Singh instructed ThePrint. “Now the SGPC is speeding to fill that house however with a transparent political motive — to reestablish the Badals on the political scene.”
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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