Punjab assembly passes Sikh Gurdwara Amendment Bill, clears path for ‘free-to-air’ Gurbani telecast

The Sikh Gurdwara Amendment Bill aimed to make broadcast and telecast of gurbani from Sri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) free for all; the rights up until this point lay with the PTC channel

The Punjab assembly passed the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023, amid opposition from Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) legislators.

Punjab assembly on Tuesday passed the Sikh Gurdwara Amendment Bill 2023. (HT File)

Notably, the Bill aimed to make broadcast and telecast of gurbani from Sri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) free for all. The rights up until this point lay with the PTC channel.

Opening discussions on the same, Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Budh Ram, as per amendment, it was the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee’s (SGPC) duty of the board to propagate gurbani.

Highlighting the importance of the “mukh waak”, he said the same should be telecast across the globe. Giving a singular channel the rights for telecast, he said, makes widespread distribution impossible.

He added that the state government did not intend to usurp anyone’s rights to telecast gurbani and the crux of the amendment, under new section 125A, was to allow all channels free broadcast rights.

Taking part in the discussion, chief minister Bhagwant Mann said gurbani was “sarab sanjhi”, but a single channel the rights to broadcast it had been restricted to a single channel for 11 years.

SAD’s Manpreet Singh Ayali, meanwhile, said SGPC should run its own channel to broadcast gurbani. Opposing the amendment, he said the government should not interfere in the affairs of SGPC, an elected body.

Notably, former Akal Takht acting jathedar Harpreet Singh had issued an edict suggesting that the SGPC run its own channel.

Ayali suggested discussions with the SGPC and SAD on the issue, saying never the former never said that gurbani should be controlled by a singular entity, but had an issue with the state interfering in the affairs of an elected body.