UAE gurdwara draws Akal Takht ire for ‘violating Sikh maryada’

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 23

Close on the heels of a management of Dubai’s Awir Gurdwara amending ardas recently, another violation of a change in baptism ceremony has cropped up in the UAE, triggering protests from the Sikh community.

Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh has taken a serious note of the violation and had termed it a blasphemy.

He said that the gurdwara management had passed a resolution to recite two banis instead of five while baptising a devotee. It was violation of Sikh rehat maryada (religious code of conduct), he added.

During the baptism, Panj Pyaras (the five beloved ones) recite the five banis- Japuji Sahib, Jaap Sahib, Chopai Sahib, Savaiye and Anand Sahib.

The tradition was started by the Tenth Sikh Master, Guru Gobind Singh, and nobody has the right to alter it, he averred.

The Jathedar was informed about this alteration by the Sikh sangat of UAE. He said some supporters of former Akal Takht Jathedar Prof Darshan Singh, who was ex-communicated from his alleged utterances against a Sikh Guru, were also part of this decision.

Earlier, a controversy over some changes in the first line and vocabulary of ardas was resolved when Surjit Singh, president of Awir Gurdwara Sahib, Dubai, had emailed a clarification and the apology to the Akal Takht.