Follow ‘maryada’ uniformly at five Takhts: Makkar

Tribune News Service

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Amritsar, February 24

SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar today said the Sikh high priests should make an effort to bring in uniformity in “maryada” being followed at all five Takhts.

After releasing the CD of ‘Shamsher Khalsa’ movie produced by the SGPC, Makkar said the “maryada” at Takht Shri Hazur Sahib in Nanded and Takht Shri Patna Sahib was different from that of the three Takhts in Punjab. He said the Sikh high priests should deliberate on the issue and try to resolve the matter.

On the status of Takht Shri Patna Sahib Jathedar Giani Iqbal Singh, who was ousted by the previous management committee and later reinstated, he said Giani Iqbal Singh had already been reinstated and he was discharging his duties as the Takht Jathedar.

Makkar, who has recently taken over as the new president of Takht Shri Patna Sahib Management Board, said they planned to celebrate the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh at Patna Sahib on a massive scale.

On the controversy surrounding the publication of Guru Granth Sahib, he said nobody had the right to publish the holy book except the SGPC. He said it was not a business and no one would be allowed to publish it. He said they would fight a legal battle with the individual who has knocked the doors of judiciary over the issue. Regarding the Global Sikh Centre to be set up by the SGPC in the USA, he said the construction work on it was under way and the SGPC would send more funds for the same in the coming days.

Earlier, while releasing the film produced by SGPC’s Dharam Parchar Committee, Makkar said films were a powerful medium that held great significance in the contemporary period while referring to the success of the recent movie, ‘Chaar Sahibzade’.

He said the SGPC would soon venture into making big films based on great Sikh personalities like Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Banda Singh Bahadur and Hari Singh Nalwa. He revealed that ‘Shamsher Khalsa’ was a short film based on the Sikh history of 18th century. He said this 70-minute movie would be shown to students in schools and colleges across the state.