Amritsar, August 26
Guru Nanak Dev University today withdrew permission to hold a seminar on Guru Granth Sahib on the varsity campus, proposed to be held by the SGPC on August 28 here. Mr Parkash Singh Badal, president, Shiromani Akali Dal, was to preside over the seminar.

The eleventh hour refusal, barely 48 hours before the event, caused a lot of inconvenience to the SGPC as the cards which mentioned the venue had already been distributed, apart from big advertisements in various leading newspapers. The SGPC has decided to shift the venue to its own Medical College at Vallah (Amritsar). Interestingly, the Vice-Chancellor, Dr S.P. Singh, was to deliver the welcome address. Nobody from the state government or the ruling party was invited by the SGPC to participate in the seminar.

Mr Badal criticised the sudden withdrawal of permission. He said the date of the seminar by the SGPC did not clash with the visit of the President on August 31.

However, the Vice-Chancellor, Dr S.P. Singh, denied that permission had been withdrawn due to Mr Badal. He claimed that he was rather directed by the state government to cooperate with the SGPC for the quadricentennial celebrations of Guru Granth Sahib. He said the university had to withdraw permission for the seminar due to security reasons as mentioned by the Intelligence Bureau. He said the President would inaugurate a seminar on ‘Relevance of Guru Granth Sahib in the New Millennium of Cosmopolitanism’ at the university campus, three days after the seminar proposed to be held by the SGPC.

Mr Dalmeg Singh, secretary, SGPC, said he himself along with Mr Waryam Singh, an assistant secretary of the Dharam Parchar Committee, had personally met the Vice-Chancellor who readily agreed to attend the seminar.

Meanwhile, a press note issued by Mr Raminder Singh, Deputy Commissioner, said the President and the Prime Minister would participate in the quadricentennial celebrations of Guru Granth Sahib on August 31 and September 1, respectively. He said as part of the celebrations, the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, would dedicate a road to Guru Granth Sahib from Gurdwara Ramsar.