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Claiming rights over Gurbani from Golden Temple is commercialisation of the most sacred Sikh shrine

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Chandigarh: Gurbani gives the message of love, universal brotherhood and dignity of human being but the sacrifices have been made only by the Sikhs for it. No single person or a company can claim to have exclusive copyright over Gurbani. It is the Sikh collective that has made the sacrifices for Gurbani and the Golden Temple (Darbar Sahib) that can claim  this right. The claim of rights over the Gurbani telecast from the Darbar Sahib by the TV channel owned by the House of Badals violates this basic premise.
Gurbani can neither be bought nor sold.
The telecast of  kirtan live by All India Radio was one of the demands on which the Akali Dal launched its morcha in August 1982. The issue was part of the Sikh religio-political discourse much before that. Dr Jagjit Singh Chohan, the radical leader, floated Radio Golden Temple Corporation that managed to smuggle in a  symbolic transmitter. Chohan had constituted Akali Dal (Revolutionary) at that time. The transmitter was installed on November 4, 1979 and its antenna was set up on one of the towers of Bunga Ramgarhia and it fell only during the army attack code named Operation Bluestar in June 1984. The symbolic transmitter was installed to press the demand.
The radio went on the air at 12.30 pm with the announcement, “This is Radio Golden Temple, Amritsar. We greet the listeners from all over the world. Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh. This day would be a historic one in the history of the Sikhs as from now on, it would enable the people to listen to live kirtan from the Golden Temple. We would continue the struggle for a high powered transmitter at the Golden Temple”. (Jagtar Singh: Khalistan Struggle A Non-movement, p 37). The signal was for all.
This is the background of the telecast of live kirtan from the sanctum sanctorum of the Golden Temple.
The telecast  landed in the domain of cable TV in 2000.
Tara Punjabi and another eyed live telecast from the Golden Temple. Tara Punjabi approached Bibi Jagir Kaur and the meeting took place at Amritsar in the office of the SGPC. Also present was an aide of Jagir Kaur. The issue was sorted out and modalities were finalised. Tara Punjabi was to donate Rs 50 lakh to education fund of the SGPC. Only the paper work was to be completed. Jagir Kaur had promised to do the needful at the earliest.
The situation changed by evening. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal intervened in the evening. The agreement was signed with the other channel. An Akali leader from Delhi had been active on behalf of that channel. When Badal approached, he said he should have been contacted rather than going directly to the SGPC chief. The situation had changed after the exit of all powerful Gurcharan Singh Tohra as the SGPC chief. Badal never intervened during Tohra’s long tenure.
Tara Punjabi was in collaboration with The Indian Express for news.
The basic and serious issue going by the claim of the PTC channel now is commercialisation of the Golden Temple from where kirtan is telecast.
It may be mentioned that the plan at one stage was to distribute the signal to all channels that abide by modalities of telecast. The system was to be installed by the SGPC. The Akali Dal under Badal promised this in election manifesto for general election to the general house of the SGPC.
Rather than fulfilling the promise, the Badal family owned channel has finally claimed exclusive rights over telecast of just morning Vaak. The telecast rights have been with the PTC for years but controversy has erupted only now.
Gurbani is not the property of anybody and hence none can claim copyright.
But then the issue is as to who should intervene?
The SGPC is controlled by the Badal family that owns the channel.
The commercialisation of the Golden Temple and Gurbani is among the extremes in degeneration of Sikh institutions. Only the Sikhs  are to be blamed for this mess.
The structural changes that have been made in the sanctum sanctorum of the Golden Temple for live telecast is another serious dimension but that is a different issue.

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