Stage row: Parties flayed for ‘tokenism’

Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, November 11

With the state all set to celebrate Guru Nanak’s 550th Gurpurb on Tuesday, the idea of separate stages by the state government and the SGPC has come under criticism from the local populace. In the political circles too, it was only with Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar that the SGPC stage first witnessed presence from a leader of national importance. Before this, not a single dignitary or leader who came to pay obeisance at Sultanpur Lodhi went to either of the pandals.

Of all the tents and pandals put up at the holy city of Sultanpur Lodhi for the occasion, the most imposing structures (besides gurdwaras) are the sprawling pandals of the state government and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.

The separate pandals were a result of a long-drawn credit war between the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal which decided to go their separate ways after failing to reach a consensus on common space.

While the rest of Sultanpur Lodhi was crowded by over 10 lakh devotees a day before Gurpurb, the pandals did not see even one-third of the crowds, which the key gurdwaras like Ber Sahib witnessed during peak hours.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Ber Sahib gurdwara amid a joint welcome by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and SAD leader and Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal (the only occasion the two were seen together for celebrations), Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was welcomed at the gurdwara by Akali leader Bibi Jagir Kaur and SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal as well as Congress cabinet minister Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria and MLA Navtej Singh Cheema.

I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar, too, only visited the exhibition and neither of the pandals.

The sprawling 60,000-square feet pandal of the Punjab Government — also known as the Darbar Hall —bears likeness to the facade of Nankana Sahib Gurdwara. On the other hand, the SGPC stage though has a comparatively humble exterior, its interiors are plush with a glistening golden stage with HD multi-media presentations running from arched enclosures forming the stage’s backdrop. Collectively, over Rs 15 crore has been spent on these pandals.

Writer Gurbachan Singh said, “I have been to both Dera Baba Nanak and Sultanpur Lodhi. People are not interested in knowing which politician came where. They come to pay obeisance to the Guru, not to listen to politicians. At this holy occasion, this contest should have been avoided.”

Sukhdev Singh from Alliance of Sikh Organisations, said, “It was the responsibility of the state’s leaders to keep politics out of this religious occasion. The two stages and political tokenism is a let-down for which crores of rupees were squandered. A common, simple space where everyone sat together on the floor, devoid of the VIP culture or political allegiances, was expected.”