New Delhi, July 29
Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president Paramjit Singh Sarna said today that the DSGMC would approach Akal Takht to give “the DSGMC appeal for simple weddings in the Capital a stamp of approval”.

Sarna’s comments follow after a move to implement the anti-ostentation code for Sikh weddings, decreed at a meeting of registered Singh sabhas on Saturday, drew mixed reaction. Some said the Takht had been completely bypassed while making the decision.

As per the DSGMC, the code had been designed to curtail social evils like dowry harassment and female foeticide. However, terming it as an unwarranted interference, several people said they should have the “freedom” to hold private functions like weddings the way they wanted to.

There also have been welcome signals, proclaiming that everyone should adhere to it. But, a sizable section of the community here also feels that only the Takht is competent to come out with a hukamnana of this kind.

“They seem to have completely bypassed the Takht while taking the decision,” SGPC member Kuldeep Singh Bhogal said.

The DSGMC recently has been quite active in regulating community affairs in the Capital. After the “kesh nahin to pervesh nahin” code for schools managed by the DSGMC, the Sikh body followed it up by the austere code for weddings.

It also set up a task force to ensure that incidents similar to last Sunday, when a group of bikers harassed people around Gurdwara Bangla Sahib in Central Delhi, are not repeated. Several members of the community said the task force would ensure that such incidents drew strict action.

As far as the code for Sikh weddings is concerned, it lays rules for a simple wedding before noon at gurdwaras followed by a langar, sans non-vegetarian food and liquor. Instead of five or six lavish ceremonies, it also advises that Sikh weddings should be restricted to two ceremonies to avoid unnecessary expenditure. According to it, those found flouting the rules would not get a marriage certificate from gurdwaras.

Bhogal, however, says similar efforts in the past had “failed miserably”. “It is a good move but the decision should be taken after taking everyone concerned, including the Akal Takht, the SGPC and intellectuals in confidence. Ideally, the DSGMC, in consultation with the Dharam Parcharak Committee, should talk first talk to intellectuals and then try to spread awareness. Implementing the decision as a diktat will not work. I was a member of a similar committee, which failed miserably,” he says.

Sarna, however, says the DSGMC attempt to curtail evils of society is in the form of a request and persuasion. “Simple wedding format was working quite well in cities like Mumbai, Bhopal and Indore. As far as consulting the SGPC is concerned, it doesn’t consult us while taking decisions, so why should we do that. But we will definitely seek the Takht’s approval tomorrow,” he says, adding that several affluent Sikh families had called him up to congratulate and support him.

DSGMC general secretary Balbir Singh says committees for 46 circles will be in place by next month.