TALWANDI SABO, Punjab—Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) gave Bikram Majithia special treatment when he arrived at Takht Sri Damdama Sahib to complete his “Tankhah” (religious penance) awarded by Sri Akal Takht Sahib for his blasphemous act.
A Kirtan program at Takht Sahib was rescheduled for the “Tankhaiya” (religious offender). The SGPC certainly didn’t treat him as any they would other Sikhs when he came to atone for his religious sin of distorting a shabad (hymn) while canvassing for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Arun Jaitley before the Indian parliamentary elections held recently in Amritsar.
“Listening to Gurbani” was one of the several sevas (volunteer services) the highest presidium of Sikhs had imposed upon Majithia. Hindustan Times reports that SGPC manager Jagpal Singh asked the ragis (devotional singers) to gather five minutes before the scheduled start of prayers so that the controversial Akali minister could take his “punishment” quickly.
“The Kirtan at Takht Damdama Sahib starts after 3:15 pm normally, but that day the SGPC manager called us to begin it at 3:10 pm for Majithia,” ragi Jasbir Singh, who did the duty, confirmed over the phone.
Majithia, who is also a Punjab public relations minister, turned his appearance at Takht Sahib into a PR event, issuing pictures to the press of him washing utensils and cleaning shoes (which he did symbolically for only a few minutes). Probably the first “Tankhaiya” Sikh to appear at two Takhts in one day, he appeared before Takht Keshgarh Sahib in the morning, and seemed proud of it.
The three SGPC members who had adjusted the Takht rules for him were given credit in his press notice.
Manager Jagpal Singh acknowledged that he had called up the ragis to start kirtan ahead of schedule for Majithia.
At Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib, Jathedar Giani Mal Singh performed Ardas (prayer) after the completion of Majithia’s seva which is against the Sikh tenet that Ardas cannot be performed for a Tankhaiya Sikh.
