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SGPC to place all facts on missing ‘saroops’ before public, says Dhami
SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami will reveal details on 328 missing holy scriptures, urging caution against political interference in the issue.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami on Monday said that all the facts about the missing 328 ‘saroops’ (holy scriptures) of Guru Granth Sahib will be placed before the public and urged the community to remain cautious of the politics being played over the issue.
Dhami said that he will address the media on Tuesday at gurdwara body headquarters at 12pm.
“SGPC will bring the facts of the issue before the public and present a detailed account of every action taken by it. During the meeting of the Sikh clergy at Akal Takht held on Sunday, it was clearly directed that no one should indulge in politics over this issue. However, chief minister Bhagwant Mann is attempting to mislead the sangat on this matter,” Dhami alleged.
Dhami’s statement came on a day when Mann, during an interaction with the media, said that the state government will summon the former office bearers and staff of the SGPC for the probe.
Referring to the resolutions passed by SGPC in 2020, CM said that no action was taken, though the SGPC had demanded registering criminal cases against senior SGPC officials, including former chief secretary Dr Roop Singh. He added that the decision to terminate all services of SS Kohli & Associates, a chartered accountant firm, and approval to recover 75% of payments made to it for failure to discharge its responsibility were not fulfilled.
Punjab police on December 7 had registered an FIR against 16 individuals, mostly former SGPC officials and staffers, in connection with the missing ‘saroops’ (holy scriptures), nearly five years after the matter came to light. Notably, on December 22, the Punjab Police also formed a special investigation team (SIT) headed by AIG (vigilance), Mohali, Jagatpreet Singh, to probe the matter.
The matter was exposed by the human rights advocacy group Punjab Human Rights Organisation (PHRO) by writing a letter to Akal Takht and the then chief secretary of Punjab in 2020. The PHRO letter cited a retiring SGPC employee, Kamaljeet Singh, in the publication department, alleging that 267 saroops were missing in the records.
Dhami urged the community to remain cautious of the politics being played over this sensitive issue.
Akal Takht on Sunday warned the AAP dispensation in Punjab to stop interfering in the “internal matters of the Sikhs”.
Issuing a decree after chairing a meeting of Sikh clergy, Akal Takht jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj said that if it (state government) continues “interfering in internal matters of the Sikhs,” action would be taken according to panthic traditions.
“If any political party makes such an attempt, it will be answerable to Sri Akal Takht Sahib and will be deemed guilty of betraying the Panth,” the decree said.
