NEW DELHI, India—Tensions erupted ahead of the Lok Sabha elections again in the Tilak Vihar, also known as the “Widow Colony” of the New Delhi area. Independent sources say that a building residing on a four acre parcel of land in Tilak Vihar was being used to hold an Akhand Paath Sahib, an unbroken continuous 48 reading of the entire Guru Granth Sahib scripture. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Jarnail Singh has been in the process of obtaining legal possession of the land for the use of Sikh community, however with an eye to upcoming elections, actions by mischievous persons led to the interruption of the Akhand Paath Sahib taking place at the site.
According to Ajmer Singh Randhawa, workers of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) did not wait for the land to be legally transferred to the community before initiating the continuous reading of Guru Granth Sahib. They had also unfurled the Nishan Sahib banner despite the police having warned them of consequences since the land did not yet legally belong to the Sikhs. The Police were assured that the building would be vacated after completion of the Akhand Paath Sahib, however both Manjit Singh GK, and Manjinder Singh Sirsa,” announced a series of 51 Akhand paaths, one after the other in order to keep the possession of the land in their hands,” said S. Randhawa.
This led to the police entering the building and stopping the Akhand Path Sahib reading. The Saroop (volume of scripture) of Guru Granth Sahib Ji was confiscated, and transferred to Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib. There have been conflicting reports that police did not follow proper procedure in handling Guru Granth Sahib, however it has also been claimed that police officers were respectful, and they have a video recording to prove it.
Following the actions by police, DSGMC and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) (Badal) workers have protested at the Subhash Nagar Metro station asking the Tilak Vihar administration to allow them to hold the Akhand Path Sahib again. The Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) West Delhi candidate Parvesh Verma has since visited the site, and expressed solidarity with the local Sikhs. He blamed MLA Jarnail Singh for not ensuring the site was already in name of the Sikh community. He alleged that he would be working with local administration to find a solution to the problem. MLA Jarnail Singh, on the other hand, blamed BJP and SAD (B) for politicizing the matter. He said that these parties were trying to trying to lure votes of the Sikhs even though in past they had done nothing for the community.
Sikh24 is trying to establish contact with Seva84 organization and Khalsa Aid as both of these organizations have used the disputed building in past for their purposes. Addition details will be shared soon.
