Punjab mulls tweaking law on telecast of Gurbani from Golden Temple

Vishav Bharti

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Chandigarh, June 18

A two-day special session of the Punjab Legislative Assembly, which begins tomorrow, is likely to be fiery as the government is planning to bring a resolution to add a new clause to The Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925. The decision is aimed at ensuring free-to-air telecast of Gurbani from the Golden Temple, Amritsar.

Giving details, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said the agenda for this resolution would be cleared by the Cabinet at its meeting slated to be held here tomorrow. He said the resolution would be tabled in the Vidhan Sabha on June 20.

Mann said the decision was in consonance with the feelings of the Sikh sangat across the globe. The CM described it as the need of the hour to disseminate “Sarb Sanji Gurbani” across the globe with an aim to spread the universal message of “Sarbat da Bhala” (welfare of all).

Mann advocated that Gurbani should be telecast free of cost rather than confining it to a single channel. He said the move of the government would go a long way in offering an opportunity to the sangat to listen to Gurbani while sitting in their homes even abroad.

The CM said it would also allow people to have the “darshan” of the Golden Temple on their TV sets or other gadgets.

Reacting to the development, the SAD termed it a direct interference in Sikh religious matters. Party spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema said the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925, fell under the purview of Parliament. It could only be amended if the SGPC passed a resolution. “The anti-Panth act is being done at the behest of Arvind Kejriwal,” he said. At present, the Badal family-owned PTC Channel is the sole right holder of the live telecast of Gurbani from the Golden Temple.

Dhami cautions CM

SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami cautioned the CM against “misleading” the sangat for his political considerations. He said the telecast of Gurbani could not be equated with other broadcast as it was associated with devotion of the sangat. In a tweet in Punjabi, he cautioned Mann not to meddle in the religious matters of the Sikh community.