With the crisis deepening in their religious affairs, radical Sikhs on Tuesday opened a front against Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) in their Sarbat Khalsa, (grand assembly) here and appointed Jagtar Singh Hawara, a convict in the Beant Singh assassination case, as jathedar (head priest) of the Akal Takht.
Apart from the Akal Takht, which is the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs, the congregation also “removed” head priests of two other Takhts, Takht Keshgarh Sahib and Takht Damdama Sahib.
Normally, the SGPC appoints all head priests. The hardliners and some other Sikh groups have been alleging that the ruling Badal family of Punjab controls the SGPC.
The congregation accused the incumbent Sikh head priests, appointed by the SGPC, of not keeping the dignity and traditions of Sikh institutions.
The ‘Sarbat Khalsa’ was organised at Chabba Village, about 10 kms from the holy city, to “free” Sikh institutions from political influence.
The gathering was organised to discuss the ouster of Akal Takht head Gurbachan Singh and other Sikh priests involved in “pardoning” of Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for his alleged blasphemy in 2007, which triggered violence in Punjab and Haryana.
However, the SGPC and Akal Takht, Sikhism’s highest religious seat, have refused to term it as ‘Sarbat Khalsa’.
The congregation, in its over seven-hour-long meeting, passed around ten resolutions.
Amrik Singh Ajnala of Damdami Taksal and Baljit Singh Daduwal of United Akali Dal (UAD) were appointed as head priests of Takht Keshgarh Sahib and Takht Damdama Sahib respectively.
The congregation declared lieutenant-General KS Brar (Retd), the commander of Operation Bluestar, and KPS Gill, former Director-General of Punjab Police as ‘tankhaiya’ (guilty of religious misconduct) and directed them to appear before the Akal Takht on November 30 “so that action could be taken against them”.
It also withdrew the titles of ‘Fakhr-e-Qaum’ and ‘Panth Rattan’ given to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.
Badal, who is also the patron of Shiromani Akali Dal, was bestowed the titles of ‘Panth Rattan Fakhr-e-Qaum’ by Sri Akal Takhat Sahib in the Golden temple premises in recognition of services rendered by him during his long political career in 2011.
The appointment of Hawara as Akal Takht head is expected to drive a wedge between various Sikh groups in Punjab.
Hawara, one-time militant of Babbar Khalsa outfit, is currently undergoing life-sentence at the Tihar Jail in New Delhi. He was convicted for the murder of then Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh in a human bomb attack on August 31, 1996.