Guru Granth Sahib Ji’s Saroops Arrive at Khalsa School Amid Growing Frustrations

1656295_842422022465078_1175284185114792209_nVANCOUVER, Canada—Saroops of Guru Granth Sahib Ji that were earlier reported stranded at the port in Vancouver due to customs have now arrived at Khalsa School Newton campus.  These saroops are currently being kept at the gymnasium of the school, which has been transformed into a darbar hall.  The saroops were brought here earlier today after a number of meetings at Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara over the past few days seeking swift action to arrange for transportation of the saroops after customs held the bus holding the saroops for four days.

At the meeting last night, Sikh Sangat asked Bhai Ripudaman Singh Malik to clarify the issue and asking him to not arrange for additional saroops in the future.  In addition, they accused him of breaking Panthik Maryada and traditions by having saroops shipped via a container.  It is noteworthy that Bhai Ripudaman Singh has spent his life doing seva in a number of projects benefiting the local BC sangat.  He has been involved with the Khalsa School and the Satnam Education Society (Satnam Trust).  He was also falsely accused in Canadian courts of the Air India attacks some time ago, however later fully acquitted.

In addition to Bhai Malik, the SGPC and Takht Jathedars have also been blamed for not ensuring proper respect to Guru Granth Sahib when saroops are sent internationally.  In contrast, a press release by the Satnam Trust alleges that a similar method of transporting saroops via bus on a ship has been approved and used by SGPC in the past.  Guru Granth Sahib Ji saroops were taken to Italy and UK by the same bus in 2011, and Malaysia in 2013, before being shipped to Vancouver this year.

The press release further states that Satnam Education Society had offered to work with the SGPC to build a printing press in British Columbia, however the SGPC has so far denied multiple requests.  Since then, the North Carolina printing press deal fell through and the SGPC was contacted by Satnam Trust a few more times—each time they were not interested. Meanwhile, Didar Singh Bains, a wealthy Sikh from Yuba City, California, who is also a close supporter of Parkash Badal, has given land to SGPC in California, and the plan is that he will be building the printing press near Yuba City.

In the statement today, Satnam Education Society said that it “respects Sikh Rehat Maryada and will follow guidelines as presented to us by the SGPC, the authority in charge of printing and distributing Guru Granth Sahib Jee saroops. If there is a change in guidelines from the SGPC, we will respect those changes.”

Satnam Trust in their statement added that they “hope the SGPC will ensure a printing press is built in North America so that saroops will not have to be shipped. We have offered the SGPC to help with this seva, and are willing to coordinate with other societies to make this happen.”

A Satnam Trust sevadar we contacted, who asked not to be named, said, “We told them that if there was no other option to send the bus.”

Statement by Satnam Education Society (click to enlarge)

“The bus arrived on Saturday and the customs broker told us it could take more than a week for the bus to clear, we have been in constant contact with the customs broker and shipping company to try to get the bus released ASAP,” the sevadar continued.

The sevadar lamented, “There was nothing perfect about the way this was done. There were many mistakes made. But the numbers of sangat requesting and wanting Guru Sahibs saroop in their homes has increased and perhaps this seva will offer some long term benefits to sangat who can do darshan of Guru Sahib on a daily basis.”

On the other hand, Sikh Youth in BC have criticized Satnam Trust, stating that there is no shortage of saroops currently.  Especially in, and around Surrey, there are multiple Gurdwaras within walking distance.  However, as per the Satnam Trust, the request by Sikh Sangat to do parkash at their homes is growing.

A picture of the letter from the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara meeting can be seen below, along with a correspondence sent to the SGPC:

2014-09-30_lettertomalik2014-10-01_letter_to_sgpc

A meeting is scheduled to take place tonight to further discuss this issue.  

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