Akal Takht’s supremacy under threat

THE controversial removal of two Takht jathedars by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has caused a furore within the Sikh community. At a meeting of its executive committee on March 7, the SGPC decided to terminate the services of Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh for “failing to guide the Panth and address contemporary issues effectively”. The committee also decided to remove Giani Sultan Singh from the post of Jathedar of Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib.

Though they both continue to be in service of the SGPC, their removal is being described by many observers as a ‘black day’ in contemporary Sikh history. It has saddened and dismayed Sikhs across the globe. However, not many would have been surprised by these decisions. A month ago, another Jathedar, Giani Harpreet Singh, had been sacked by the SGPC on ‘flimsy’ charges.

The present turmoil in Sikh institutions has its origin in the happenings of December 2, 2024, when the SAD leadership appeared before the Akal Takht to atone for its ‘misdeeds’. The Sikh clergy awarded them religious punishment. The Badals (father and son) were presumably considered the main culprits. Besides awarding tankhah to Sukhbir Singh Badal, the clergy withdrew the title of Panth Rattan Fakhr-e-Qaum (pride of the Sikh community) that had been conferred on then Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal by the Akal Takht in 2011. The jathedars also directed that all factions of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) be dissolved and appointed a committee to oversee the process of the party’s revival through a fresh enrolment of members. While this was a bitter pill to swallow for the SAD leadership, the Sikhs at large were jubilant. They saw in it a ray of hope, a possibility of a return to politics with a moral fibre and one that was accountable to the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs.

There have been instances in Sikh history when the Akal Takht has summoned powerful Sikh rulers, including Maharaja Ranjit Singh, and awarded them severe punishment. However, the present-day Akali leaders would not have expected the jathedars to be so harsh on them. They tend to see them as mere employees of the SGPC. And the SAD leadership has had near-total control over the affairs of the SGPC for the past several decades. Their decision to appear before the Akal Takht was an attempt to reclaim legitimacy among the Sikhs following a decade-long rule during which some steps widely perceived to be anti-Sikh were taken. While the SAD leadership nominally underwent a part of the awarded tankhah, the dominant section also saw the punishment as a challenge to its authority. Hence, the reprisal.

While a section of the SAD leadership might see the removal of the two jathedars as a victory, it is likely to further erode the party’s credibility among the Sikh masses. Besides widespread condemnation of the executive committee’s latest decisions, members of the Sikh civil society have also pointed to the fact that the SGPC no longer has the mandate of the community. Its term expired a long time ago. It continues to be in place by default because no elections have been held since 2011.

What explains such dissonance and discord within Sikh institutions? What could be the way forward for the Sikhs? For over a century, Sikh religious institutions and Akali politics have been inseparable. It was during the popular mobilisation for the liberation of historic gurdwaras in the 1920s that the SGPC was born. The Akali Dal was formed by leaders of this reform movement as its political wing, which had to be subordinated to the religious establishment, the SGPC and the Akal Takht. Over the years, this relationship has reversed. The political class, with a specific family at its helm, has come to control various institutions. The SAD has also come to function like other parties, conforming to the prevailing political culture. It has changed its mandate from being a party representing Sikh interests and aspirations to being a party of all Punjabis, representing their regional interests.

With the formation of a separate gurdwara management committee in Haryana, the SGPC’s sphere of influence has shrunk and become confined to Punjab. Likewise, Delhi has a separate gurdwara committee. Besides, there are a large number of important gurdwaras, including in Punjab, which are outside the purview of the SGPC.

Even more importantly, over the past 100 years, the social profile of the Sikh community has seen many changes. With growing urbanisation and occupational diversification, the community’s aspirations and perspectives have become far more diverse. Sikhs today are spread across the world, with a sizeable number of them in Europe and North America. However, they all look up to the Akal Takht as the supreme authority of the faith.

Given that the SGPC does not represent the aspirations of all Sikhs, it should not have the sole right to appoint or remove jathedars. The time has come to separate the institution of the Akal Takht both from the SGPC and the regional politics of the SAD. In the long run, such a separation may prove to be beneficial for everyone. But it is unlikely to be an easy task. Such a change would require extensive popular mobilisation. On the positive side, Sikhs today have vibrant civil society organisations in several nations and resources of their own to make such a change possible.