SGPC will retain right to print, publish Guru Granth Sahib: Punjab CM Bagwant Mann

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday said the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) would continue to control the printing and publishing of the Guru Granth Sahib even after the proposed amendments to a related Act were passed by the Assembly.

The Punjab Government had proposed to widen the scope of the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Act, 2008, by including provisions to tackle sacrilege incidents. The Act exclusively deals with the printing and publishing of the holy book.

Seeking to allay concerns over the proposed changes, Mann said additional clauses in the Act would deal with the desecration of the holy book once it was installed as a living Guru. He said any desecration attempt would attract punishment raging from a minimum of 10 years to life sentence once the changes were passed in the Assembly.

Mann also slammed the BJP, claiming that the party “held him responsible” for the grenade attack outside its office in Chandigarh.

“Whatever historical wrongs have taken place in the country are attributed to Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri. If something goes wrong in Delhi, it was blamed on Arvind Kejriwal, and if anything happens in Chandigarh, it is blamed on me,” he said. The CM said his government had given 65,264 jobs, the highest in Punjab’s history in a four-year period.

“Jobs are being given to common people without bribe or recommendation. There is rapid expansion of Digital Punjab, with 30 lakh monthly footfall at Sewa Kendras and over 8.20 crore services delivered,” he added.

Mann also highlighted the Hunar Vikas Mission under which five multi-skill development centres had been established in Amritsar, Bathinda, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar and Ludhiana. “In these centres 1.25 lakh youngsters have been trained,” he said.

Akal Takht to seek separate Act at Sikh bodies’ meet

Amritsar: Akal Takht officiating Jathedar Giani Kuldip Singh Gargaj will lead the Panthic organisations at the April 6 meeting here to mobilise support against any changes in the state Act dealing with the printing and publishing of the Guru Granth Sahib.

He will also seek a separate law to tackle sacrilege cases.

The meeting has been called by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) at its headquarters — Teja Singh Samundri Hall.

Officials at the Akal Takht secretariat confirmed the development. They said Gargaj would lead the Panth to impress upon Bhagwant Singh Mann-led AAP government not to tinker with the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Act, 2008.

The Act gives the SGPC exclusive right to print and publish the scripture. The SGPC has invited all Panthic organisations, including the Damdami Taksal and Sikh Student Federation, for the meeting.