Akal Takht Jathedar should be free from political influence: Dal Khalsa

The Akal Takht Jathedar should be independent of all kind of political and administrative bindings, said the Dal Khalsa after the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) sought views on service rules of the temporal heads.

On the other hand, Damdami Taksal head Baba Harnam Singh Khalsa ‘Dhuma’, who had earlier led a protest against the removal of three Jathedars, has called a meeting of representatives of Sikh organisations on April 27 to decide on their next course of action.

Addressing a press conference here, Dal Khalsa leaders said they had submitted the blueprint regarding the appointment, removal and working sphere of Takht jathedars to SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami.

Outfit’s working president Paramjit Singh Mand said the draft was prepared by Sikh scholars, experts and religious-political activists after years of deliberations with cross-section of the Sikh community.

“The jathedars — heads of the five sacred Takhts of the Sikhs — are leaders of the Sikh community, expected to conduct their lives in an exemplary fashion. But currently, jathedars are being appointed and removed at the whims and fancies of the political masters controlling the SGPC,” he said.