Decade on, SGPC-formed panel yet to frame policy for appointment of Takht Jathedars
A Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) panel constituted to frame a policy on the appointment and service rules of Takht Jathedars has been inoperative for over a decade now, with those in the know of the matter blaming political interference as the reason behind it.
Currently, Jathedars of three of the five Sikh temporal seats — Akal Takht, Takht Damdama Sahib and Takht Kesgarh Sahib — are being appointed by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-dominated SGPC.
The Jathedars of the other two Takhts, Patna Sahib in Patna and Hazoor Sahib at Nanded in Maharashtra, are appointed by their separate management committees after taking the Union government into the loop.
The issue has gathered steam after Takht Damdama Sahib Jathedar Giani Harpeet was removed by the SGPC on February 10, the sixth such instance since 1999.
The development came after Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh had on an earlier occasion objected to the proceedings against Giani Harpreet Singh, who in 2013 had questioned the Sikh body over the delay in framing the policy.
Takht Damdama Sahib former Jathedar Giani Kewal Singh said in Giani Harpreet Singh’s case, it appeared as if there was “no coordination between the SGPC and Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh, who had rejected the inquiry instituted against him.”
“The SGPC acted at the behest of SAD. All this happened in the absence of a policy on Jathedars’ service rules and rights,” he alleged.
The five-member SGPC committee to frame the policy was formed on January 21, 2015.
The panel comprised Balwant Singh Dhillon, former director of the Centre on Studies in Sri Guru Granth Sahib at Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU); Prof Jaspal Singh, former vice-chancellor of Punjabi University; Kirpal Singh, a Sikh historian; Prithipal Singh Kapur, former pro-VC at Guru Nanak Dev University, and Balkar Singh, a Patiala-based historian.
Former SGPC secretary Dalmegh Singh said except holding its lone meeting at Anandpur Sahib in 2015, where it was decided to set up an email ID so that suggestions from members and intellectuals could be invited on this issue, no follow-up action was taken.
Sikh scholar Gurpreet Singh believed that the panel has been lying in limbo, “presumably on account of SAD, who through the SGPC never intend to lose its power to misuse Sikh institutions for their political interests”. “Panth intellectuals and organisations should be taken in the loop to define Jathedars’ service rules,” he said.
