:dateline:Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has courted another controversy by making a claim regarding the implementation of the amended Nanakshahi Calender in Pakistan. The claim has been questioned due to knowledge of the confirmation made by representatives of Sikh Sangat (congregation) in Pakistan that have not decided yet to observe Gurupurabs as per amended Nanakshahi Calendar.
SGPC president Avtar Makkar, who is visiting Pakistan accompanied by other senior member, on Tuesday, claimed that Sikhs in Pakistan had agreed to observe Gurpurbs as per the amended Nanakshahi Calendar. Various Sikh leaders have targeted Makkar for misleading the community on the sensitive issue.
Former�Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president Paramjit Singh Sarna said he had a word with Daya Singh, Head Granthi of Nankana Sahib, who told him that the Sikh Sangat at the historic shrine has not approved the amended calendar as is being projected by the SGPC. He said Makkar merely addressed a gathering of Sikhs at Nankana Sahib, and accuse the SGPC chief of misleading the Sikh community. He cleared the air that the new body of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) is yet to be set up and therefore the question of the PSGPC making any such decision hasn’t yet come up.
Meanwhile Dal Khalsa also took serious notice of the misleading statement issued by SGPC chief. Its spokesperson Kanwarpal Singh has termed Makkar a �failed head� of the supreme elected body of the Sikhs who was making such false claim resultant of creating division among members of the PSGPC. He said Makkar and his team, who are on a tour to the neighboring country, had �twisted the facts and played a political stunt�. He said that according to their UK chapter head and member of the advisory board of the PSGPC, Manmohan Singh, no such decision to lend support to the amended version had been taken by the Pakistani panel. �A desperate Makkar has cheated the Sikhs,� he stated, adding that the incumbent SGPC chief, like his bosses (read Badals), are playing divisive politics over there.
He wondered as to why the Badals were so desperate to convince the Pakistani Gurdwara body to fall in line. He said the Sikh community was divided on the issue of Nanakshahi Calendar with Jathedar Balwant Singh Nandgarh, the PSGPC, the�American Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (AGPC) and scores of socio-religio-political groups, including theirs, still follow the original version of 2003. The senior leader of Sikh political organization made an appeal to Sri Akal Akal Takht Sahib Jathedar to build consensus on the issue instead of playing a partisan role. He said the so-called changes in the Nanakshahi Calendar had diluted the uniqueness of the Sikh almanac. On the other hand, renowned Sikh scholar Ashok Singh Bagarian has urged the Sikh leadership to make it clear whether the amended Nanakshahi Calendar was based on solar charts, or lunar charts.
