The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, a Sikh institution elected to run the shrines of the community, is sponsoring a world Sikh conference at Amritsar scheduled to be held from September 2125. Acting Jathedar of Akal Takhat Prof Manjit Singh is in the forefront organizing and making preparations for the proposed conclave, traditionally, an Akal Takhat Jathedar is responsible for calling “Sarbat Khalsa.” But he has not called one and, instead, has lent his full support to the world Sikh meeting. The reason seems to be that the Sarbat Khalsa is closely linked to Akal Takhat and its fighting spirit in the cause of Sikh polity.
The main purpose of calling Sarbat Khalsa has all along been to discuss urgent political issues facing the community. But Akalis and the acting Takhat Jathedar are scared of the Sikh political matters being discussed by a conclave of Sikhs at Akal Takhat. Such a Sarbat Khalsa in 1987 had passed a gurmata (holy resolution) in support of Khalistan. Secondly, resolutions of Sarbat Khalsas have been traditionally binding on all Sikhs, All the greater reason why Prof Manjit Singh or his backers are not inclined to call it a Sarbat Khalsa. The agenda circulated by Prof. Manjit Singh for the World Sikh conclave mentions two parts the deliberations are to be split.
One part will deal with “specific and academic matters” while the other will dispose of challenges being faced by the Sikh community in the social, religious, political and economic matters. Thus the proposed conference will not have to focus on the all-important question of Sikhs’ political relations with the Indian state, The conclave will be content to touch upon all the issues under the sun to keep the focus away from matters like Khalistan or Sikhs’ civil rights in India and other connected matters. In short, through this mechanism the §.G.P.C. and the acting Jathedar have sought to lower the image of Sarbat Khalsa as a historic political institution of the Sikhs. Nevertheless, holding conferences whether at a local level or at the world level is a democratic process and we cannot possibly oppose them per se. However, calling it “World Sikh Conference” is a misnomer because holding it at Amritsar it is closed to millions of Sikhs lodged in Indian jails or those living in countries other than India because India’s doors are closed to politically advanced Sikhs, living in countries like the U.S.A., the U:K., France and Germany. Political matters at the conference will be so out of focus that it will virtually not discuss them tall. The Akal Takhat Jathedar or his parent, the S.G.P.C., are not known for providing or considering relief to thousands of Sikhs uprooted by the Indian state. They are ‘unconcerned with matters even the Indian Supreme Court or the High Court for Punjab were moved into entertaining and giving relief to the affected families. Therefore, for Prof. Manjit Singh or the S.G.P.C., the question of Sikhs’ human rights merits no thought. The conclave is the brainchild of S.G.P.C. President Gurcharan Singh Tohra. He appears to be using the meeting in the same way as he used the Akali unity, proposal to forge his own links with Badal. As such, the Amritsar conclave is unlikely to go beyond what Badal stands for in politics, Resolutions are likely to fume and fret against the Indian state mostly on nonissues but on the vital question of Sikhs’ fate, it is likely to center round the Ludhiana resolution of 1978 which diluted even the otherwise harmless Anandpur Sahib resolution. Those who wish to join the Amritsar “World Conference” will have to bear in mind the known fact that it will be a tame, limited affair aimed at bolstering up men like Tohra and Badal and their proIndia politics on the eve of the 1996 Lok Sabha elections. There is no prospect of any discussion on the burning issue facing the Sikhs or the question of their identity.
Article extracted from this publication >>September 8, 1995
