Missing saroops FIR: SGPC urges Akal Takht jathedar to issue edict
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee terms Punjab govt move direct challenge to Akal Takht, unwarranted interference.
Terming the Punjab government’s move to register an FIR in the matter of 328 missing holy saroops of Guru Granth Sahib as a direct challenge to Akal Takht, the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs, and an unwarranted interference in its administrative rights, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Thursday put the ball in the court of acting jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj and urged him to issue an edict.
Sharing details of the resolution passed at the executive committee meeting at its headquarters, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami, who chaired the meeting, said, “Though action regarding the sacred saroops (holy scriptures) had already been completed in accordance with the directives of Akal Takht Sahib, the recent participation of ministers, the Speaker, and MLAs in a protest on Heritage Street leading to Sri Darbar Sahib in Amritsar and their directions to the police to register an FIR show that the government is intentionally exploiting the matter for political gain.”
He said the issue is not one of sacrilege or missing saroops, but rather of financial misappropriation committed by employees. “Presenting this matter as sacrilege or missing saroops is a political conspiracy aimed at defaming the premier Sikh institution and hurting the sentiments of the Sikh community, an agenda in which the Punjab government is fully involved,” he said.
The FIR was registered on December 7 against 16 individuals, mostly former SGPC staffers, in connection with the missing 328 ‘saroops’ of Guru Granth Sahib five years after the matter came to light. The case was registered under Sections 295 (injuring or defiling a place of worship or sacred object with intent to insult a religion), 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings), 409 (criminal breach of trust), 465 (forgery) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.
Dhami said the inquiry committee formed by the Akal Takht under the leadership of advocate Ishar Singh had clarified in its report that certain employees of the SGPC’s publication department, driven by personal greed, attempted to unsuccessfully conceal their wrongdoing. Based on the report, action had been taken through the executive committee resolution no. 466 dated August 27, 2020, and legal action against employees had been taken.
“However, since Sikh scholars, and even the report of advocate Ishar Singh did not recommend registration of a police case, the executive committee through resolution no. 493 dated September 5, 2020, approved taking internal action instead of legal proceedings. This was because police interference in the examination of the sacred saroops of Guru Granth Sahib would violate Sikh maryada and tradition”, he said, adding, “Both these resolutions were later ratified through the general house resolution no. 366 on February 28, 2021.”
The SGPC president said, “The government’s recent decision to register an FIR in the matter is aimed at hiding its own failures in Punjab and fulfilling its political motives, as even after four years in power — having campaigned on the issue of sacrilege — the it has failed to deliver justice.”
He further through the resolution passed at the meeting, the SGPC condemned the government’s attempt to malign the management of Sikh institutions and issued a warning that the Sikh Panth (community) would not tolerate government interference in its institutions.
Dhami said it was decided that since action in the matter has already been taken under the direction of the Akal Takht based on the report of the inquiry commission, the case will now be sent to the jathedar for further deliberation and orders.
Responding to a question, Dhami said that the Hindi book related to “Sikh history,” translated and printed from an English text in 1999, had already been banned and withdrawn by the SGPC, and advertisements about this had been issued twice in newspapers. He said bringing up this issue repeatedly is also driven by political motive.
Speaking to the media after the Sikh clergy meeting on December 8, acting jathedar Giani Gargaj said the SGPC has taken appropriate action. “This case pertains to financial mismanagement, not sacrilege,” he said and added that the involvement of Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan and minister Harjot Singh Bains, who in the past had undergone tankhah (religious atonement) at Akal Takht, shows the action was driven by political motives.
