Sarna, DSGMC spar over nagar kirtan

New Delhi, July 11

The 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak have become the point of contention for two separate groups of the Sikh community in the national capital.

Both have announced dates for a religious procession (nagar kirtan) from Delhi to Nankana Sahib in Pakistan, the birth place of the Guru. Both want the procession to commence around October 29 this year.

The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) says it has the permission from the Union Home Ministry and is working with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to take a nagar kirtan or religious procession to Nankana Sahib. “The DSGMC is one of the bodies authorised under the India-Pak bilateral pact signed in 1974 to take and recommend jathas (religious delegations) to Sikh shrines in Pakistan,” says Manjinder Singh Sirsa, DSGMC chief.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi), led by the Sarna brothers, Paramjit and Harvinder, says it has all the permissions, including those from Pakistan. “We had announced the dates of the nagar kirtan much earlier and the DSGMC is just shifting its dates,” said Harvinder. —TNS