SGPC to discuss working of Takhts on Aug 5

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has called a special meeting of its members on August 5 to deliberate on the working of the five Sikh Takhts.

SGPC chief secretary Kulwant Singh Mannan said the meeting will be chaired by the Sikh body’s president, Harjinder Singh Dhami.

The move has come amid efforts to defuse tensions between the Akal Takht — the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs — and Takht Patna Sahib following a recent face-off over a religious punishment to SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal.

The Takht Patna Sahib had declared Badal a “tankhaiya” for repeatedly ignoring its summons. Badal was accused of interfering in affairs of the Bihar-based temporal seat.

The decree was overturned by the Akal Takht, citing its supremacy over all other temporal seats. Currently, jathedars of three of the five Sikh temporal seats — Akal Takht, Takht Damdama Sahib and Takht Kesgarh Sahib — are appointed by the SGPC, which is controlled by the SAD. The jathedars of the other two Takhts — Patna Sahib in Patna and Hazur Sahib at Nanded in Maharashtra — are appointed by their separate management panels.

In May, the “panj pyaras” at Patna Sahib had declared jathedars of the Akal Takht and Damdama Sahib “tankhaiya”, stocking a major row. It came after five high Sikh priests gave a clean chit to Takht Patna Sahib former Jathedar Giani Ranjit Singh Gauhar, whose services were terminated in 2022 after holding him guilty of “involvement in embezzlement of donations”.