Panthic consultancy and consensus has been a long-standing tradition for appointment of Jathedars which has been disregarded by the present SGPC leadership by its unilateral appointment of Jathedars, thereby eroding the authority of Sikh institutions writes the spokesperson of the revolutionary political party, Dal Khalsa. He presents efforts made to evolve a methodology which can be refined for universal acceptance by the Khalsa Panth.

A few days back, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) appointed Giani Raghbir Singh as Jathedar Kesgarh Sahib following the demise of Giani Mal Singh, the presiding Jathedar.  For the record, it may be mentioned that the deceased Giani Mal Singh was one of the three Takht Jathedars who was ‘discredited’ for pardoning Sirsa dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim in a sacrilege case in September 2015. All Panthic efforts to dislodge the present Jathedar of Akal Takht have so far failed even though he too was guilty of misleading the Sikhs.

The SGPC has once again taken the decision to appoint Giani Raghbir Singh on its own without bothering to consult the Panth. SGPC did not consider it necessary to take any Panthic organization, institution and age-old Sampardas into confidence before naming the Jathedar. There was no semblance of an effort to build or show a consensus. Earlier also, the SGPC took the unilateral decision to replace Giani Gurmukh Singh with Giani Harpreet Singh as Jathedar of Takht Damdama Sahib after the former did not relent from calling a spade a spade with respect to the role of the Badals who still control the SGPC, even though they are out of political office.

The moot point here is the arbitrariness of appointment by the SGPC and not the wisdom, credibility or capability of the newly-elected Jathedars.

Across the Panth, from Sikhs outside Punjab and outside India in the global Sikh Diaspora, there is growing resentment to SGPC abrogating all powers without consultation. Technically, SGPC represents voters of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh although historically its writ runs across the Sikh world. However, since the last decades, unilateral and arbitrary decisions have eroded the legitimacy and universal acceptability of the SGPC and the succumbing of the religious leadership to the political leadership by taking wrong and misleading decisions and positions has added fuel to the fire.  Across the Diaspora, collective forums are coming up in respective countries and continents in an effort to become umbrella organisations of the Sikhs in those areas to address issues rather than take them all to the SGPC. Surprisingly, the SGPC leadership seems oblivious to this.

The SAD controlled SGPC has miserably failed to evolve a code of appointment, a code of conduct and a foolproof system of removal or impeachment of Jathedars, should the need arise. The present requirement is only unquestioning loyalty to the political party -Shiromani Akali Dal and its chief and this is tearing into the needs of the Panth to have a bold leader capable of leading the community through thick and thin.

“Scholars mooted a collegiate pattern called the Khalsa Darbar of 100 individuals be constituted, representing different shades of Panthic opinion from which an 11-member selection committee will be formed, which will choose a panel for the post of the Jathedar, which shall be forwarded to the Darbar once again for confirmation and ratification. The Khalsa Darbar shall choose one person from the panel and the SGPC will be asked to appoint that person.”

Way back in March 2000, when Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti after his appointment in place of Giani Puran Singh had instructed the SGPC to lay down the procedure for the appointment, removal and working spheres of Takht Jathedars, the SGPC cold-shouldered his call.

In a Dal Khalsa initiative, scholars including Dr Pritpal Singh Kapur, Bhag Singh Ankhi, Prof Bikram Singh, Dr Sohan Singh, Sukhdev Singh Bhaur, Jaspal Singh Dhillon, Tarsem Singh Delhi and Principal Harsimran Singh opined that it should not be the sole discretion of the SGPC to appoint or remove the Jathedars at will though it may play the role of a coordinator among the various Sikh organizations.

Scholars mooted a collegiate pattern called the Khalsa Darbar of 100 individuals be constituted, representing different shades of Panthic opinion from which an 11-member selection committee will be formed, which will choose a panel for the post of the Jathedar, which shall be forwarded to the Darbar once again for confirmation and ratification.  The Khalsa Darbar shall choose one person from the panel and the SGPC will be asked to appoint that person. To ensure that there is no divergence, the onus for the summoning the Darbar shall lie with the SGPC.

The draft suggested that the Jathedar should be independent of all kinds of political and administrative pressures and manipulations and answerable only to the Panth. It suggested that the Jathedar should be independent of any pecuniary authority. The Panth should create a financial corpus for his sustenance and for the affairs of the Akal Takht secretariat.

Among the organizations, parties, institutions that would constitute the Darbar were to include SGPC, DSGMC, Takht Sri Patna Sahib Board, Takht Hazur Sahib Board, Akhand Kirtani Jatha, Damdami Taksal, Chief Khalsa Diwan, Sant Samaj, Sikh Educational institutions, Kendri Singh Sabha, Sikh political parties and groups within India and abroad.

“Your Quote HereTo restore the aura, supremacy and dignity of the institution, the Panth needs to evolve and implement specific, considered and logical guidelines regarding the appointment, removal and working sphere of Jathedar of the Akal Takht and other Takhts.”

Similarly, the rules and procedures for removal, defining powers and working sphere and criteria and qualities to select a person for the top post was also laid down in the draft. The proposed draft was circulated among a select group and individuals for further debate, suggestions and ratification. A series of meetings, discussions, workshops were arranged to get feedback.  

Continuing the dialogue, in March 2008 Supreme Court lawyer HS Phoolka, Wing Commander (Retd) RS Chhatwal, Damdami Taksal head Baba Harnam Singh Khalsa, Akhand Kirtani Jatha head Baldev Singh, Chief Khalsa Diwan secretary Bhag Singh Ankhi, Director Jagdish Singh, former SGPC secretary Manjit Singh Calcutta, Narain Singh, Dr Gurcharanjit Singh from GNDU, KAC convenor Mohkam Singh, Daljit Singh, chairman of Dharam Parchar Committee of the DSGMC, former Jathedar Giani Kewal Singh and Jagtar Singh Jachak, Khalsa Panchayat chairman Rajinder Singh and Principal Harsimran Singh took part in the deliberations.

Significantly, during the entire process, Jathedar Vedanti’s call to codify the post remained the central force. The organizers and the scholars made it crystal clear that the blueprint will be handed over to the SGPC for broader consensus and implementation. However, the move could not see the light of the day as Jathedar Vedanti was removed unceremoniously in August 2008. Unfortunately, his successor Giani Gurbachan Singh was disinterested in taking the issue to its logical conclusion.

Since then, the issue of codifying the post is hanging in in the limbo. The dilly-dallying approach of the SGPC and sheer arrogance of the Akali leadership led by Sukhbir Singh Badal has taken the toll of the institution. A sizeable section of the Panth refuses to recognize Giani Gurbachan Singh as the Jathedar of Akal Takht.

The Akal Takht is supreme and its supremacy and sovereignty cannot be challenged and questioned. However, the concept of Sandesh, Gurmata and Hukamnama have become hazed over the years because of the manner in which edicts have been handed over in recent times -from the blatant interventionist to the utterly ridiculous and the politically motivated.

To restore the aura, supremacy and dignity of the institution, the Panth needs to evolve and implement specific, considered and logical guidelines regarding the appointment, removal and working sphere of Jathedar of the Akal Takht and other Takhts.