On 13 November, SGPC general house re-appointed Gobind Singh Longowal as president. Actually Sukhbir Singh Badal did. What does this election mean to the Sikhs? Well, nothing! How much does the SGPC care for the Sikhs and modern democratic governance? Well, who cares! Will the Sikh Gurdwara Act 1925 be amended to fulfil aspirations of the Sikhs? Unlikely, at least for now! What should the Sikhs do? Plan and prepare to retake the SGPC back into the Sikh domain.

When the SGPC general house – a house of zombies elected, rather appointed Gobind Singh Longowal for the second time in a row without discussion and debate.  9 new executive committee members were nominated amidst absence of Sukhdev Singh Bhaur and his group, absence of Jathedar Sekhwan, walkout by Balwinder Singh Bains and Jathedar Mohinder Singh Hussainpur and opposition by in-house member Kiranjot Kaur.

All the SGPC members owing allegiance to Shiromani Akali Dal Badal are a bunch of loyalists, who do not possess vocal chords, who are dumbstruck most of the time and who stand in awe of their leadership for they have a lot to hide in terms of their own weaknesses of nepotism, inefficiency and blind party allegiance.

The SGPC members and the executive does not even bother to be politically correct. They simply give a damn. Otherwise how can you explain that a day prior to the general house meeting, in a totally unethical and undemocratic decision, the executive declares, “all powers to appoint the SGPC president have been given to Sukhbir Singh Badal -the President of the SGPC.

Every year, two times in a year, they squat before Guru Granth Sahib for two to three hours in the prestigious Teja Singh Samundri Hall. As soon as they sit, they suppress their conscience, benumb themselves and only look to the stage so that they can raise their hands when the name of the “the chosen one” is announced. Then suddenly they get their vocal chords back in action and blare loud Jaikaras hailing the appointment of the new President of the SGPC. The other time they meet in the year is to adopt the multi-million budget, of course, once again, without discussion and debate.

“All the SGPC members owing allegiance to Shiromani Akali Dal Badal are a bunch of loyalists, who do not possess vocal chords, who are dumbstruck most of the time and who stand in awe of their leadership for they have a lot to hide in terms of their own weaknesses of nepotism, inefficiency and blind party allegiance.”

Sorry for the harsh words, but all SGPC members have been reduced to zombies who blindly accept and follow the diktat of the party leaders with absolutely no concern for Sikhs and Sikhism. They have forgotten ..lekha rab mangesiah….God will hold you accountable.

When these zombies, led by their Big Brother Zombie -the president-elect and “the carrier” of the message of “the chosen one” are confronted by the likes of Bibi Kiranjot Kaur, Balwinder Singh Bains and Jathedar Mohinder Singh Hussainpur, they get emboldened and seize the situation. They will not even hesitate to resort to the concluding prayers -Anand Sahib, to silence the speaker like Kiranjot Kaur who wanted to raise important and significant issues. None of the zombies said that what was being done was wrong.

They seem to say, “If we don’t speak because we cannot speak or are not allowed to speak”, “how the hell can you speak?”. That is the only explanation for the undemocratic treatment meted out to Kiranjot Kaur. Whether she should continue to be embarrassed within the sphere of her party is for her to decide.

The resolutions adopted by the SGPC yesterday are routine mundane resolutions, with no background information and with idea or reference to follow up plans. Adopting resolutions is a ritual and it is like the many rituals that have crept into the religious life of the Sikhs and the management of religious affairs of the Sikhs.  As they do not take stock of the resolutions that they adopt from year to year in the general house or in the SGPC executive committee meets, they easily forget what they did last time.

Gobind Singh Longowal, his team and all SGPC members have forgotten that they have done grave injustice to the sanctity of Akal Takht Sahib and the decorum of the functioning of the Akal Takht Jathedar. Talking about resolutions, it is extremely disturbing that it does not pain the SGPC leadership that 18 years ago, the then Jathedar Akal Takht, Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti, had asked the SGPC to lay down the norms of appointment, removal and sphere of work of Jathedar of Akal Takht and other Takhts. What has happened since then? Nothing. Is this criminal negligence? It is more than that!

“The present house of the SGPC has much to answer to the Sikh nation. It is upto the community, in its wisdom to rise to the occasion and hold them accountable for the pardon to the cultist pseudo-saint Gurmeet Ram Raheem of Sauda Sirsa Dera.”

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee is largely regarded as the mini-Parliament of the Sikhs. Though it does function as such, historically speaking it has been the harbinger of new programs and policies for the community and has always been the torch-bearer of the interests of the community in the face of the most trying circumstances and in facing the worst kind of religious and political leadership of India challenging it.

Today, the honesty, integrity and sincerity of elected SGPC members (elected in 2011 and as such their term was complete in 2016 -more of that in another story) is seriously in doubt as the leaders of the party that governs this body of the Sikhs that came about through legislation nearly a century ago in 1925 through a legislation -The Sikh Gurdwaras Act 1925, as one of the culmination points of the Gurdwara Reform movement, have seriously eroded its significance through their various acts of intervention, meddling, corruption and nepotism.

In recent times, the handling of the post and status of the Jathedar of Akal Takht Sahib, the very exalted position of Akal Takht Sahib, rightfully regarded as a unique institution – “a state within a state” that exemplifies the unique religio-political status of the Sikh nation. It is imperative on the present SGPC to take initiative to set up a permanent committee to build an all-acceptable codified procedure for appointment, impeachment, job description for the post of Jathedar of Akal Takht Sahib.

While it is easy to hold the Jathedar of Akal Takht Sahib, the Badal Dal leadership and the SGPC leadership is responsible for this mess, all members of the SGPC are equally guilty of their acquiescence of the wrong policies and decisions.

The present house of the SGPC has much to answer to the Sikh nation. It is upto the community, in its wisdom to rise to the occasion and hold them accountable for the pardon to the cultist pseudo-saint Gurmeet Ram Rahim of Sauda Sirsa Dera.

“Rupees 96 lakhs spent by the SGPC to justify pardon to Gurmeet Ram Rahim must be returned back to the Guru Ki Golak. Those on the Panthic fronts must exert social, religious and even legal pressure to get the funds back. There may be no precedent for this but there is always a first time.”

It is my contention that the Sikh Sangat must ask the President, the executive and all members of the SGPC (except those who parted ways like Sukhdev Singh Bhaur) to return to the coffers of the SGPC, the Rupees 96 lakhs spent on advertisements to justify the pardon of the Sauda Sirsa dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim. Giani Gurbachan Singh who first issued the pardon and then retracted it has accepted in his resignation that it was a mistake. The new incumbent Acting Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh has called it a gross mistake. The SGPC house does not have the magnanimity to accept its mistake and has chosen to remain silent on the issue, as is their wont on many issue. It is pretty obvious that the SGPC leadership has bungled.  The ill-spent money must be returned to the Guru Ki Golak. Those on the Panthic fronts must exert social, religious and even legal pressure to get the funds back. There may be no precedent for this but there is always a first time.

Despite the cries of the Sangat, this SGPC house is unequivocally responsible for the endorsement of their wrong party stand on Bargari and Behbal Kalan. They have chosen to rightly make a big noise about the distortions in the syllabus books prescribed by the PSEB, but their silence on similar mistakes in the books published by the SGPC is inexplicable.

Sikhs in general, detest the SGPC and the members but do not do much about it. They have all along seriously jeopardised Sikh interests.  There is absolutely no doubt that the working of the SGPC today is an assault to the memory of stalwarts of the Gurdwara Sudhar movement who were instrumental in ushering in this august institution from the clutches of the British rulers.

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Now it is time to get back the SGPC from the clutches of the ruling zombies who remind us the words of the friend of Sikhs, author J. D. Cunningham, who said, “Sikhs are a nation of lions, led by a….”

When will the a…. become lions again?