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SEHAJDHARI AFFIDAVIT IMBROGLIO BLOWS UP IN A BIG WAY
Sant Samaj, Damdami Taksal, Nihang bodies,
Chief Khalsa Diwan set 7-day deadline for SGPC
Withdraw Affidavit or Face Us In The Court: Sant Samaj, others tell
Badals-Makkar
WSN Bureau
 CHOWK
MEHTA: Striking a major blow in favor of saving Sikhism from vested
interests that have come to entrench themselves within the SGPC, the
entire Sant Samaj, Nihang Singh organizations, Damdami Taksal, Chief
Khalsa Diwan and many other panthic outfits came together in an
unprecedented manner and collectively served the SGPC and the Akali
Dal a seven-day ultimatum to withdraw the highly objectionable
affidavit defining Sehajdhari Sikh in the Punjab and Haryana High
Court.
In a meeting at Chowk Mehta, attended by scores
of Sikh holy men, religious leaders and representatives of many
organizations, a resolution was read out setting one week's deadline
for the SGPC, its president Avtar Singh Makkar and the ruling Akali
Dal of Parkash Singh-Sukhbir Singh Badal to withdraw the affidavit
that made a distinction between Sehajdhari Sikh and Keshadhari.
 The
meeting also decided that all constituent members of the Sant Samaj,
Damdami Taksal, Nihang Singh bodies and Chief Khalsa Diwan shall
become a party to the ongoing case and will have their own counsel
to represent them.
Among those who attended the meeting, held under
the aegis of Gurmat Sidhant Pracharak Sant Samaj, were Bhai Harnam
Singh Dhumma of Damdami Taksal, Baba Bidhi Chand of Tarna Dal, Baba
Daya Singh, Tarna Dal chief Baba Makhan Singh, Sant Hari Singh of
Harianvelanwale, Baba Sukhchain Singh Dharampura, baba Sewa Singh
Rampurkhera, Sant Paramjit Singh Mahalpur, Baba Avtar Singh
Badhnikalan, Sant Manjit Singh harkhowal, Bhai Mohkam Singh of
Damdami Taksal, Bhai Jasbir Singh Rode, former Jathedar of Akal
Takht, Baba Balbir Singh Ratwara, Jathedar Wassan Singh, jathedar
Tarlok Singh Khiala, Sant Hari Singh Zira, Jagjit Singh Gaba,
representazive of Jalandhar Singh Sabhas, Baba Surjit Singh Mehron
and Giani Hardip Singh.
Sikh affairs expert Gurcharanjit Singh Lamba
briefed the gathering for a long time, read out the documents and
cleared many doubts before the collective decision was reached.
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Will Sikh crowds throng the High Court?
With the Sant Samaj coming out stromngly and
openly against the SGPC affidavit, and the decision being clear
that Sants, Damdami Taksal and other organizations will become a
party to the case and take a stance against the SGPC affidavit,
the
Punjab and Haryana High Court may soon witness unprecedented
scenes.
Informed sources within the Sant Samaj said the
leadership may give a call to the sangat to reach the High Court
on the next date of hearing, January 16.
Any such call will galvanise the community like
never before because here is a situation in which the SGPC has
clearly come to represent the shrewd and crooked point of view
of the RSS-BJP lobby and is speaking against the collective
panthic view. There is little that anyone could object to the
Sikhs thronging the courts as earlier the administration had
failed to stop the Sirsa fraudster baba from bringing his
supporters in thousands to the court.
Punjab Advocate General Hardev Singh Mattewal will be also
facing the heat as he has been seen as the person, along with
Sikh History Research Board chairperson Anurag Singh, who was
behind the move at the instance of Akali Dal president Sukhbir
Singh Badal. Sukhbir Singh Badal has been continuously trying to
secularise the party, opening it to all kinds of infiltration at
the ideological level from saffron partner. |
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“If the Sant Samaj and other organizations are
put in a situation where they will have to oppose the SGPC on a Sikh
community’s internal issue in a court of law, then the entire
responsibility will be that of the SGPC which has messed up the
definition of Sejahdhari Sikh,” said the resolution passed by the
gathering.
The affidavit was submitted by the SGPC after
considering a report of the seven Sikh scholars handpicked by SGPC
president but later some scholars exposed the conspiracy by
revealing that expert committee had decided a completely different
definition of Sehajdhari than was submitted through affidavit by the
SGPC.
Shockingly, even SGPC general secretary Sukhdev
Singh Bhaur and Secretary Dalmegh Singh had signed a totally
different definition. Both Bhaur and Dalmegh Singh were among the
seven member expert panel. Of the seven, six members had signed the
definition which was overturned and changed. The one member who had
not signed the definition decided by other experts was Anurag Singh,
chairperson of Sikh History Research Board and considered close to
Avtar Singh Makkar. Expert panel members Gurcharanjit Singh Lamba,
Bibi Kiranjot Kaur, Principal Suba Singh of
Shaheed
Sikh Missionary College, Sukhdev Singh Bhaur and Dalmegh Singh have
publicly declared their opposition to the SGPC affidavit.
SGPC president Makkar was at the receiving end
during his visit to the
United
States last week where he could not satisfy Sikh leaders and
activists as to why a distorted definition was submitted to the
Punjab
and Haryana High Court which opens floodgates of religion to the
non-Sikhs.
25 December
2008
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