‘Sri Akal Takht, the “Throne of the Ammonal’ is the only institution of its kind in the world, which has been influencing the course of the history and life of a community that is essentially nonviolent, yet so self-respecting, Most secular at deeply religious, dedicated to self’s a Mice, yet pledged to self-preservation too. This, in a ‘Sensor, constitutes the clan vital of the Sikh community, Sri Akal Takht is perhaps the only place where divinity and dignity go hand in hand; spiritual and temporal Powers blossom together; chivalry and chanting of hymns blend together 30 harmoniously. After the fifth Nanak, Guru Arjun Dev’s supreme martyrdom at the hands of the Mughal emperor Jahangir, a need was felt that right teousness must be defended, not with the rosary alone but with the sword also. Some historians are of the opinion that Guru Arjun had himself sent ‘word to his son, Guru Hargobind, to build a Throne and maintain army.
Guru Hargobind started holding a Regular court. Sitting on a platform rose to 12 feet in height opposite to the spiritual seat of the Sikhs, Sri Harimandir, popularly known as Darbar Sahib; it was virtually to throw a challenge to the Mughal emperor that there was another Throne with more powers than his throne which wielded only worldly powers. The great Guru was addressed as Sacha Padshah whereas the Moghul emperor was only a worldly king.
The foundation stone of the Takht was laid by Guru Hargobind himself in 1606 A.D. and it was completed by 1609 A. D. Now a valiant community was under the control and command of a valiant Master who took up on his shoulders the responsibility of fighting tyranny and who himself was the supreme wielder of Miri and Piri, that is, spiritual and temporal powers. To achieve the required goal he issued the firs. HUKAMNAMA from this throne of the Immortal ordaining his followers to visit him. The Sikhs flocked to the Takht in large numbers, ‘The Guru asked them to offer arms and good horses whenever they visited him since it had become necessary to reason to arms to meet the challenges of the Mughal tyranny on social, economic, cultural and political levels. ‘Thus, this Throne started functioning parallel to the: ‘one in Delhi, but on the path of righteousness only, dispensing justice, defending the weak and the meek, serving the needy and the starving, Not in the quest of territory, temporal gains, gold or kingdom, this Throne was exclusively the seat of Sacha Padshah blending together Bhakti and Shakti. ‘The Throne of the Immortal brought about an endogenous development of Sikh religion saints became saint soldiers, The total Sikh community looked towards it with wondrous awe and respect; it combined in itself divinity and dignity, humility and heroism, terror for the tyrants and tears for the trampled ones. It indeed became a symbol of Divine Sovereignty.
Sri Akal Takht was looked after by persons of great eminence like Baba Budha ji, Sahibzadas Ajit Singh (elder son of Guru Gobind Singh), Bhai Mani Singh. After the fall of Banda Bahadur, the community became leaderless, ‘Then again Sri Akal Takht emerged as the only hope of the Sikhs, so they decided to assemble twice in a year and discuss the Panthic affairs there. The last quaver of the 18th century gave birth to a remarkable tradition, ‘The assembly of the Sikhs, known as SARBAT KHALSA, after thorough deliberations would arrive at a decision in the presence of Guru Granth. This decision was known as GURMATA, that is, the corporate voice of the Guru Panth commanding spontaneous and willing submission without any superimposed coercion.
The Guram at as were passed, the Hukamnamas were issued, without being superimposed; full care was taken to ensure that these represented the collective will and voice of the Khalsa Panth and would not appear in any way as the edicts of the clergy there being no class of clergy in Sikhism. The role of the Takht Jathedar was that of coordinator and not a commander.
‘After Punjab became a part of the British Raj in India, the Akal Takht also came under the control of a puppet committees which functioned under the directions of the British Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar. The dignity and status of this Throne of the Immortal was undermined by the mortal rulers. ‘They through the submissive Takht managers started misusing the Great Seat for their ulterior motives so much ‘so that a person like Bhai Gurmukh Singh, a scholar reformer among the Sikhs, was indicted for advocating the abolition of idol worship and other such anti’Sikh rituals in the precincts of the holy Darbar Sahib.
But the symbol of God, which stood for justice, compassion, righteousness, could not remain mortgaged to anti’Sikh forces. The Singh Sabha movement arising in the last quarter of the 19th, century heralded anew awakening among the Sikhs. Out of this awakening arose the Gurdwaras reforms movement; the Akal Takht regained its sanctity and authority, in the first quarter of the 20th, century were born the Akali movement and the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee.
‘Once again the Akal Takht became the supreme power to guide the destiny of the community. All important matters were discussed there and the decisions arrived at were morally binding on the Panth.
But, this state of affairs did not continue for long. Personal interest, party politics and intragroup rivalries started appearing on the scene. The AKAL TAKHT authority was once again being misused by mortals who ‘were seeking personal interests rather than the interests of the Panth or of the humanity. That gave birth to controversies, conflicts and clashes. Self-glorification became more important than the glory of the Takht. Sant Fateh Singh used it as a platform to broadcast his intention of self-immolation, (which he never did and created a blemish on the high traditions of the Panth).
He erected big KUNDS on a building by the side of the Takht where he said he would immolate himself. The construction of these KUNDS and the issue of their demolition caused a great rift even among the top Sikh leaders. Virtually it brought about a split in the Panth. The Shiromani Akali Dal was split into two. The climax came when an open clash appeared between Prakash Singh Badal and Jagdev Singh Talwandi in 1979. The Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht was being coerced to mediate in the issue of Presidential election of the Akali Dal. Gurcharan Singh Tohra and Jagdev Singh Talwandi formed a common front against Prakash Singh Badal. The unity among the Akali leaders did not last long. In 1987 also the Takht was approached for Akali unity which was again short-lived. Frequent recourse to the Akal Takhat authority by the Akali leaders in the pursuits of their self-seeking factional party politics including those leaders who at one time or the other had defied this very authority when its decisions did not suit them coupled with the clergy like role of the Takht Jathedars (for which there is no basis in the Sikh doctrine), acting in partisan manners in the past few years, caused an undercurrent of resentment among the Sikh community but few had the boldness to give expression to this inner anguish of the Sikh community which rightly felt that the Operation Bluestar in 1984 could demolish only the “body” of the holy Takht, without suppressing its irresistible spirit, while the Akali factionalism exploiting the instrumentality of the Takht Jathedar tended to under~ mine the very “soul” of this holy and high institution. I was in this context that Dr. Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, a Sikh scholar with deep commitment to the Sikh faith, ideological clarity of vision and courage of conviction, came forward with ‘call for restoring and upholding the sanctity and supremacy of Sri Akal Takht as a symbol of Divine Sovereignty wans ending the day today exigencies of factional party politics. He raised the banner with his keynote address delivered at a representative Seminar on July 16, 1993, held under, the auspices of the Guru Gobind Singh Foundation, Chandigarh. Herein he raised fundamental issues relating to the nature of the Akal Takht ‘authority in the Sikh doctrine as well ‘as in the Sikh historical tradition; its domain; the modus operandi of the exercise of the Takht authority, and the position and role of the Takht Jathedars, both past and present.
‘The Sikh intelligentsia, including eminent journalists, by and large, joined this ideological crusade, climaxing with the intensification, in recent weeks, of the efforts to once against invoke the authority of Sri ‘Akal Takht by involving it in Akali party politics in the name of what is euphemistically called the “Akali Unity”. It is for first time, since the formation of the Shiromani Akali Dal in the twenties, that the Sikh intelligentsia so boldly and so effectively played a historic role in influencing contemporary Sikh (Akali) praxis which seen in the larger perspective is a sign of reawakening among the Sikhs about their holy institutions and political structures. Shri Barjinder Singh Hamderd, Managing Editor of the daily “Ajit” played the most commendable role in this debate. Shri Harbhajan Halwarvi through the columns of the Punjabi Tribune, has also made notable contribution in lifting the debate to high standards of intellectual discourse Sardar G.S.Grewal, an eminent lawyer and former Advocate General of Punjab, highlighted legal and constitutional aspects of the questions raised in this debate and gave a new thrust to this crusade, Prof. S. S. Dosanjh also played prominent role.
Stressing that the domain of SA ‘Akal Takht is that of universalistic ; temporal concerns of Sikhism and not j the existential concerns of only section of the Sikhs in terms of their factional party politics, Dr. Abluwalia raised a very pertinent question: Is it Sri Akal Takht or the Akali Takht? ‘This was echoed by large sections of the Akalis also who for the first time in the 70year long history of the Shiromani Akali Dal while expressing full reverence for Sri Akal Takht and its authority questioned the role of the Takht clergy in entangling the holy Takht in factional Akali infighting in the name of the so-called (superimposed) Akali Unity; these sections emphasized that the true and lasting Akali unity would emerge through the democratically expressed will of the Sikh community. The ideological crusade and the political stand. flowing out of this crusade both stand indicated by the subsequent events recapitulated in the following pages.1 have given a “retrospective” of the: sequence of the events that unfolded themselves out in the past few months, most crucial in the annals of contemporary Sikhism. I have also included, among other things, the articles expressing points and counterpoints on the ideological issues confronting the ‘Sikh community on the eve of the 21st century.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 5, 1996
