Skip to main content

Akal Takht Jathedar attacks authoritarian and Hindutva policies of Modi government in Diwali message


 

Akal Takht Jathedar targets Modi government, skips crisis relating to missing Granths

Jagtar Singh

Ground Zero

 

Of late, Akal Takht acting Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh has been giving out signals of revival of this supreme religio-political institution of the Sikhs for prayer and politics. However, he has also started slipping on certain important issues relating to Sikh religio-political dynamics, a sign that betrays his inability to confront the crucial issues within the Sikh domain.

His traditional message to the Sikhs at large on Diwali and Bandi Chhod Divas has to be  analysed in this context.

He seemed to be pressing all the right buttons. However, his message would have attained more credibility in case he had questioned the role of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee too, especially in the context of the 328 missing Birs of Guru Granth Sahib, an issue that has serious ramifications. This aspect has opened him to the criticism of not functioning as Jathedar of the Akal Takht who is supposed to be above factionalism of every kind. It is a different matter that this issue also relates to the role of the Akal Takht itself under the changing Sikh praxis in the context of the Sikhs being a global community.

Giani Harpreet Singh alerted against the policies of homogenization and authoritarianism  of the BJP government headed by Narendra Modi of which the Shiromani Akali Dal has been the part till recently. These policies are being practiced since 2014 when the BJP came into power. The Akali Dal has been in alliance with this party having core ideology of Hindutva since 1996 and parted ways only under pressure from the farmers struggle.

He talked of black laws and detention of people with progressive and pro-people ideas; increasing incidents of discrimination against minorities and tribals and attack on diversity. he referred to the violation of human rights.

He extended support to the struggle by the farmers against new farm trade practices introduced by the Modi government with the enactment of three  acts. It is in Punjab that these acts have provoked the most vociferous protests. These acts were initially strongly defended by Akali  stalwarts Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Sukhbir Singh Badal and Parkash Singh Badal, in that order.

Giani Harpreet Singh rightly praised the role of the Sikh community at the global level since the outbreak of Covid.

He targeted the Modi government without making any direct reference to the BJP or the RSS.

His message  coincided with the 100th anniversary of the formation of the SGPC that constituted the Akali Dal within a few days on December 14, 1920. The SGPC attained statutory status with the implementation of the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925.

The Jathedar should have referred to it too. The functioning of the SGPC has been under attack. This body has become a pliable instrument in the hands of one dominant political family. This downfall started after Gurcharan Singh Tohra had to go unceremoniously in 1999 after he differed with then chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on some issues relating to functioning of Akali Dal.

Even the structure of Darbar Singh (Golden Temple) can’t be changed but it has been tinkered with to convert it into studio for live transmission of Gurbani. None has questioned it. The Sikhs have not realized the damage done to the structure, including its earlier majestic look. The Maryada is also under threat.

The latest issue that has hit the Sikh religio-political domain  is that of 328 missing Birs of Guru Granth Sahib. The Sikhs have a right to know as to who were the people who were given these Birs without bringing them on record. The probe committee had been constituted by Giani Harpreet Singh but that should not deter him from ordering follow up action.

Giani Harpreet Singh is also a Sikh scholar and he should not allow the position of the Akal Takht Jathedar to be misused or exploited by the vested interests in the religio-political domain.

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

With India pausing trade talks with Canada, Khalistan narrative assume new dimension

  With India pausing trade talks with Canada, Khalistan narrative assume new dimension Ground Zero Jagtar Singh The decades old Khalistan narrative relating to an independent Sikh state has, for the first time, impacted India’s international relations. Pakistan is in different category. Going by the media reports, India has suspended trade talks with Canada, the country that is the most sought after by the youth from Punjab, the region where the issue of Khalistan is the most vibrant. Canada, as per these reports, has “indefinitely postponed a trade mission to India scheduled for October”. Though no direct reference has been made, tension has escalated between the two countries on the issue of Khalistan. Earlier, India has been accusing neighbouring Pakistan for aiding and abetting Sikh separatists in this part of Punjab. But one can’t choose a neighbour. However, Canada is not a neighbour and hence is in a different category. But then Indian settlers abroad being act
Post a Comment
Read more

Lacking vocal support in Punjab, globalized Khalistan narrative continues to concern India

  Lacking vocal support in Punjab, globalized Khalistan narrative continues to concern India Ground Zero Jagtar Singh Chandigarh: One of the stories associated with sidelines of G20 front-paged by the media is the meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi had with his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau whose focus was intensified activities of the secessionists who happen to be migrants of Indian origin. In simple and straight terms, the issue was the activities of those demanding setting up of Khalistan in Indian Punjab. Neither the demand for Khalistan nor the narrative between India and Canada   is new. Thousands of people died in Punjab including innocents and hundreds of those killed by security forces in fake encounters in the armed struggle that got triggered with the gunning down of Nirankari chief Gurbachan Singh on April 24, 1980 in Delhi by then unknown ordinary Sikh Ranjit Singh accompanied by Kabul Singh from Damdami Taksal. This was to avenge the killing of 13 Sik
Post a Comment
Read more

As Institutionalization of politics of polarisation produced Horror of Manipur, battle has to be ideological

  Institutionalization of politics of polarisation produces Horror of Manipur Ground Zero Jagtar Singh Who is responsible for the horror of Manipur? This question might seem ridiculous after the arrest of some perpetrators of this crime against humanity. It is not. The issue is that of the roots. There is also a reason as to why the expression of shame at the top was not unqualified. There is a reason as to why a dominant section in India is trying to unjustly legitimize horror of Manipur by citing examples of crimes against women in West Bengal, Rajasthan and some other non-BJP rules states. It is not that the country has witnessed such horror for the first time since 1947. This happened in November 1984 on the streets of the national capital that is Delhi and several other cities in the country. The victims then were the Sikhs. This happened in 2002 in Gujarat. The victims were the Muslims. At the root was politics of hate. The Congress used politics of communalizatio
Post a Comment
Read more