CHANDIGARH, Punjab—In an executive meet held in Amritsar on February 12, the apex Sikh body slammed parliamentarian Ravneet Bittu for using derogatory language against the Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh. The SGPC also condemned the Congress led Punjab government for favoring the constitution of a separate Sikh body to govern Gurdwaras in Haryana.
Addressing the media after meeting, SGPPC president Gobind Singh Longowal dubbed the Punjab government’s move as an attempt to divide the Sikhs. “We would not refrain from suing the Punjab government against its move, if needed,” he added.
It is noteworthy here that the Congress led Punjab government has submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court of India which favors constitution of a separate Sikh body to govern historic Sikh shrines in Haryana. This is in contrast to the erstwhile SAD-BJP government, which had filed an affidavit against setting up a separate Sikh body in Haryana as it would defy the Gurdwara Act-1925 and strike the spiritual source of the Sikhs.
In this meeting, the SGPC executive also decided to set up former SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar’s portrait at the Central Sikh Museum situated in Sri Darbar Sahib complex.
It is pertinent to note here that Makkar had misused more than Rupees 9 million on advertisement to justify the exoneration of rapist Gurmeet Ram Rahim in blasphemy charges by the then Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh.
Beside this, the SGPC’s executive also decided to give financial relief worth INR 1,00,000/- and INR 50,000/- to the families of deceased and injured devotees of Tarn Taran firecracker explosion respectively.
On being questioned about the ban on shooting TikTok videos inside Sri Darbar Sahib, Longowal said that a total ban on carrying mobiles inside Sri Darbar Sahib could also be imposed if the surfacing of objectionable TikTok videos doesn’t get controlled.
