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Sukhbir, Dhindsa perform duty of ‘sewadars’ at Golden Temple
A day after Akal Takht, the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs, pronounced ‘tankhah’ or religious punishment for the mistakes committed by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and its government in Punjab from 2007-17, its former president Sukhbir Singh Badal and former union minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa arrived in wheelchairs with placards acknowledging their misdeeds around their necks to perform ‘sewa’ (service) as penance at the Golden Temple on Tuesday.
AMRITSAR : A day after Akal Takht, the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs, pronounced ‘tankhah’ or religious punishment for the mistakes committed by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and its government in Punjab from 2007-17, its former president Sukhbir Singh Badal and former union minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa arrived in wheelchairs with placards acknowledging their misdeeds around their necks to perform ‘sewa’ (service) as penance at the Golden Temple on Tuesday.
The five high priests, headed by Akal Takht jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh, declared Badal a ‘tankhaiya’ (guilty of religious misconduct) on August 30 and announced the religious punishment on December 2. They also asked the SAD working committee to accept his resignation as party chief and withdrew the ‘Panth Rattan Fakhar-e-Quam’ title bestowed on Sukhbir’s father and former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal.
Attired in the blue ‘chola’ (robe) of a ‘sewadar’ with a foot in a cast, Sukhbir held a ‘barsha’ (spear) for an hour as he sat on a wheelchair at the main entrance of the Golden Temple in the morning. While Sukhbir sat to the right, 88-year-old Dhindsa held the spear and sat on a wheelchair on the left of the entrance. They were asked to stand as guards at the entrance, but due to Sukhbir’s fractured leg and Dhindsa’s old age, they were allowed to sit in wheelchairs.
Presence of both the leaders remained the centre of attraction for devotees visiting the shrine. Though Sukhbir was surrounded by supporters and security personnel in civvies, devotees were seen clicking pictures on their mobile phones.
Besides them, party working president Balwinder Singh Bhundar, Daljit Singh Cheema, Jagir Kaur, Prem Singh Chandumajra, Sucha Singh Langah, Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal, Charanjit Singh Atwal, Adesh Partap Singh Kairon, Janmeja Singh Sekhon, Hira Singh Gabria, Gulzar Singh Ranike, Surjit Singh Rakhra, Parminder Singh Dhindsa also came to serve the religious punishment.
Majithia, Cheema, Gabria, Ranike, Grewal and Langah cleaned washrooms/toilets at Guru Arjan Dev Niwas serai. Some other leaders, including Chandumajra, did sewa at washrooms of Guru Ram Das Niwas serai. No devotee was allowed to use the washrooms during this period.
After listening to ‘gurbani’ kirtan at the shrine, Sukhbir was seen collecting the used utensils and passing them on to the next devotee at Guru Ram Das Langar Ghar (community kitchen). Majithia and other leaders were also seen washing utensils.
It was the first day of ‘tankhah’. The leaders will perform ‘sewa’ for one more day at the Golden Temple, and then at other Takhts and gurdwaras in Punjab to complete the punishment awarded for their atonement.
While pronouncing the ‘tankhah’, Sikh clergy led by Akal Takht jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh directed the working committee of the Shiromani Akali Dal to accept Sukhbir’s resignation as party chief in three days, besides forming a panel to hold elections for the post of SAD president and office-bearers within six months.
The mistakes which were termed as sins by Akal Takht include failure to punish those responsible for the 2015 sacrilege incidents and pardoning Sirsa dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a 2007 blasphemy case.
Even as the Sikh clergy asked Sukhbir camp and rebels to bury the hatchet and forge unity for Panth’s cause in their verdict, distance between both camps was clearly seen on Tuesday in the shrine complex.
