Amritsar: Several Sikh organizations came together on Tuesday to hold a Sarbat Khalsa and appointed Jagtar Singh Hawara, the convict in Beant Singh assassination case, as jathedar of Akal Takht.
The move by hardline groups has triggred fears of revival of Khalistan movement.
Apart from Akal Takht, which is the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs, the congregation also "removed" jathedars of two other Takhts-- Takht Kesgarh Sahib and Takht Damdama Sahib.
The move is seen as the direct confrontation to Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhadhak Committee (SGPC), the all-powerful and cash-rich body that controls most gurdwaras in northern India and is the final arbiter of the faith.
SGPC, mini-parliament of Sikh religion, appoints all jathedars (Sikh head priests).
The hardliners and some other Sikh groups have been alleging that the ruling Badal family of Punjab controls the SGPC.
The gathering was opposed by Shiromani Akali Dal, ruling party controlled by Badals, which opposed the move to appoint Hawara as the jathedar.
"The gathering was called and managed at the behest of anti-Panthic elements who represent the traditional enemy of the Khalsa Panth," a group of Akali leaders said in a press statement released through the party office here.
The congregation accused the incumbent Sikh head priests, appointed by SGPC, of not keeping up the dignity and traditions of Sikh institutions.
The 'Sarbat Khalsa' was organised today at Chabba village, about 10 kms from the holy city, to "free" Sikh institutions from political influence.
The gathering was organised to discuss the ouster of Akal Takht head Gurbachan Singh and other Sikh priests involved in "pardoning" of Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for his alleged blasphemy in 2007, which triggered
violence in Punjab and Harana.
However, SGPC and Akal Takht, Sikhism's highest religious seat, have refused to term it as 'Sarbat Khalsa'.
The congregation, in its over seven hour meeting, passed around ten resolutions.
Amrik Singh Ajnala of Damdami Taksal and Baljit Singh Daduwal of United Akali Dal (UAD) were appointed as Head Priests of Takht Keshgarh Sahib and Takht Damdama Sahib respectively.
The congregation declared Lt Gen KS Brar (retd), the Operation Bluestar commander, and KPS Gill, former director general of Punjab police as 'tankhaiya' (guilty of religious conduct) and directed them to appear before Akal Takht.
Brar and Gill have been asked to appear before Akal Takt on November 30 "so that next action could be taken against them".
It also withdrew the titles of 'Fakre-e-Qaum' and 'Panth Rattan' given to Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal.
Badal, who is also the patron of Shiromani Akali Dal, was bestowed upon the title of 'Panth Rattan Fakhr-e-Qaum' by Sri Akal Takhat Sahib in the Golden temple premises in recognition of services rendered by him during his long political career in 2011.
The appointment of Hawara as Akal Takht head is expected to drive a wedge between various Sikh groups in Punjab.
Hawara, one-time militant of Babbar Khalsa outfit, is currently undergoing life-sentence at the Tihar jail in New Delhi. He was convicted for the murder of then Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh in an human bomb attack on August 31, 1996.
SAD rejects resolutions passed by Sikh 'hardliners' gathering
Shiromani Akali Dal today rejected the appointment of Jagtar Singh Hawara, the convict in Beant Singh assassination case, as jathedar of Akal Takht and other resolutions passed by a gathering of Sikhs, including hardliners, in Amritsar.
"The presence of Congress leaders like Inderjeet Singh Zira and their workers at the gathering gave their game away," claimed senior Akali leaders Ranjit Singh Brahampura, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Balwinder Singh Bhunder and Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra in the statement.
These resolutions and the persons behind them "pose a threat to the hard-earned atmosphere of peace and communal harmony in the state", said the Akali leaders.
"The SAD also rejects the resolution which seeks to paint the Sikhs as an anti-national community. The Sikhs stand for a federal structure in the country with greater autonomy to the states," said the Akali leaders.
The leaders said they outrightly reject the right of any group of organisations to supersede the will of the 'Khalsa Panth' as expressed through their elected body -- the SGPC.
"The autocratic manner in which they have gone ahead in appointing the Jathedars of the supreme Takhats of the Khalsa Panth is against the age-old and accepted traditions and norms of the Khalsa. This is an indication of their supreme arrogance and their determination to take away from the hands of the Sikh masses the authority to do so.
"These resolutions completely undermine and destroy the legitimacy of the democratic will of the Sikh Sangat as expressed through institutions chosen and managed by their elected representatives. Every Sikh has a right to go to the Sikh masses to earn the right to manage their religious affairs but no one can arrogate to himself the right to do so through a mere self-chosen gathering," the statement said.
(With inputs from PTI)
