SGPC is vandalising Sarkar-e-Khalsa memories

I am seething with anger since the day the SGPC demolished the historic Baradari within the Golden Temple Complex in Amritsar. I am angrier at my own helplessness and the sense of deja vu of the concerned Sikhs, who blithely accept such gross wrongs done by the people who have been entrusted with the responsibility of preserving and protecting the honour and heritage of the Sikh people. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee is mandated to work for the religious and social growth and development of Sikhs and Sikhism. Since the last many decades, in a most glaring and carefree manner, the Sikhs have been tolerating the crass negligence and perhaps well-mediated acts of omission and commission of various heads of the SGPC.

It is further sad and ironical that the SGPC has all along been under the tutelage of the Shiromani Akali Dal, which too, except in its present avtar, proclaims to be the custodian of Sikh rights. The brashness with which the Baradari, the last vestige of the Sarkar-e-Khalsa, within the holy precincts, built by the Sikh ruler, Maharaja Ranjit Singh was demolished should make all devout Sikhs put their heads to shame. Your act is similar to that of the Taliban destroying the Bahmian Buddhas  in Afghanistan, a few years ago, with the difference that the act of the Taliban attracted international attention and rebuke, whereas your wreckage has not found a serious mention.

You have reportedly claimed that  “expert opinion was that the building could not be maintained as it was, hence it had to be demolished”. The Sikh nation has the  right to know: Who are these  experts who gave this opinion?When was the Expert Committee constituted? By which resolution of the General House or the  Executive Committee of the SGPC was the committee of experts constituted? When was the report submitted? When was the report of  the Committee discussed? Was there any dissenting opinion? Was the report cross-checked, if there is such a report? If there was such a report, why were the contents of the report not made public before the Baradari was demolished? Another set of questions which warrant replies are: Was the SGPC or any of its executive members aware of what the non-pliant heritage  and experts would have to say about the upkeep of the Baradari? Was a note of caution given? Was this note discussed?

Were the INTACH and other bodies taken into confidence? My information is that a senior member of the SGPC was duly informed about the machinations by you to demolish the  historic structure. Either you were not informed or you chose to ignore the opinion. The photographs accompanying this letter, taken by Prof. Balvinder Singh of Guru Nanak Dev University, were taken a few weeks prior to the demolition and adequate notice was given to the SGPC not to indulge in vandalism. Just as a Truth Commission needs to be established to go into the facts, background and details of the events of last two decades, to enslist the Sikhs killed by the Indian state and the perpetrators of crimes against humanity; there is need to look into the details of all historic structures demolished by the SGPC since its inception in 1920. Shortly, I shall be putting together a website, enlisting all the vandalism indulged in by the SGPC, either on its own, by the SGPC staff, by the Badal Akali Dal leadership, through Kar Sewa Babas, by the government with tacit approval of the SGPC and also many a time by the government without the knowledge of the SGPC or the Sikhs. In my eyes, your present crime is even more dangerous than the blasphemy by the cultist chief, Gurmeet Ram Rahim.

His misdeeds may either be foolishly pardoned by the religious and political leadership of the Sikhs or he may genuinely seek pardon, at some stage, when he sees a point of noreturn or the Indian state is convinced of his uselessnes, but what you and your committee has done, cannot be undone. Your crime is unpardonable. In consultation with lawyers and heritage experts, I am exploring the possibility of initiating legal action against you and the SGPC alongwith exemplary damages, which will include reconstructing the entire site again with the same material and of the same dimension as was done in the case of Guru-ki-Masit, at Sri Hargobindpur, a few years back. I also learn that the SGPC is toying with the idea of re-opening of its application to UNESCO for naming of Darbar Sahib as a world heritage site. What I am keen to know is what has prompted the SGPC for this redo? Is it a serious endeavour or will it be another foreign-jaunt exercise for some SGPC members and some footloose intellectuals on the rolls of the SGPC?

Two years ago, I accompanied Simranjit Singh Mann to meet the Delhi-based Ambassador of the Iranian Embassy H.E. Mr. Siyavash Zargar Yaghoubi. When I mentioned to the diplomat that I have the original passport of my grandfather, Bishan Singh, showing his Irani origins, as my grandfather was born there, he quipped, “unfortunately there is no dual citizenship treaty between Iran and India, or else I would have asked my government to grant you Iranian citizenship.” During the same meeting, the Cultural Counsellor of the Iran Embassy, Mr. Ahmed Reza Asghari, told me that he was keen to know as to what route Guru Nanak took when he visited Baghdad in the sixteenth century. It was his opinion that there was a strong possibility that Guru Nanak went to Baghdad through Iran and it should be explored whether He did so or not. This is the kind of interest that heritage inspires. Look at what you and your predecessors have done: the house of Bebe Nanki, the sister of Guru Nanak at Sultanpur Lodhi, the prison of the younger Sahibzadas at Fatehgarh Sahib, the Baradari at Nanded, the paintings and craftsmanship in hundreds of historic Gurdwaras and other historic buildings –all have been sacrificed! 

When you and your Badal dal colleagues talk of establishment of  the Guru Granth Sahib University at Fatehgarh Sahib or linking it with the new University to be established at Nankana Sahib, it sounds so hollow. So hollow, that I feel like bashing my own head against the wall. My Guru said, peo dade da khol dhita khazana taan mere mann paya nidhana...Salavation is reached by revisiting the treasures of ancestors. While in this particular stanza the Guru talks about the importance and significance of Shabad-Guru, there is no doubt that the Guru’s message can be  extrapolated for upkeep of ancestor’s legacy as well.

I am sure that there is a  groundswell of anger building up in many an individual over such acts by the SGPC. I pray that this fury gets a direction and all  those responsible are made to account for  their misdeeds.When I was in the seventh or eighth class,my youngest maternal aunt, Jaspal Kaur sent me a bright tin-made school bag. It became a favourite as no one in my class had a similar bag. One day, during my way back home, a classmate sat on the bag, while waiting for the school bus to arrive. I could not bear it. I told him to get up to no avail. I hit him with a small pebble and abused him in choicest Punjabi, “tera kakh na rahe..nothing should remain of you” for doing this to my prized possession. I repeated the same words for you, when I read the reports of the demolition of the Baradari on the morning of 15th June, 2007. Waheguru Samat Bakhshe..

I pray to God Almighty to shower some semblance of wisdom to you, your colleagues and your mentors.