JALANDHAR: Former Akal Takht Jathedar Darshan Singh has publicly criticized Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) president Gurcharan Singh Tohra of missing the supreme Sikh institution for promoting his political interesting.
Addressing a Press conference sense of leaders of Damdami Taksal and Gurmat Sidhant Parchar Sant Samaj here last week, he accused Tohra of converting the SGPC into his personal fiefdom and misusing it for promoting his political ambitions.
Recounting his experience as the Jathedar of Akal Takht with Tohra, Prof Darshan Singh said when he resigned as the Jathedar following differences with the SGPC chief, his resignation was accepted and Ranjit Singh, who was then lodged in Delhi’s Tiar jail as an accused in Nirankari chief’s murder caso, was appointed the Jathedar without taking the Khalsa Panth into confidence, Ranjit Singh was appointed the Jathedar only to prevent the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee from going into the hands of anti Tohra people, he added.
Describing Tohra as a “political turn coat,” Prof Darshan Singh said it was Tohra who cobbled together Akali Dal (Amritsar) by merging six factions and engineered adoption of Amritsar declaration which advocated. India as a confederation of states, But when Tohra failed to trap the prine pal Akali faction headed by Parkash. Singh Badal into merging with the Amritsar Dal, Tohra not only went ‘back on the Amritsar declaration but also joined hands with Badal whom he had earlier dubbed traitor to the panth, he added, The former Jathedar said as long as men with political ambitions held office of the SGPC, the institution could not serve the purpose of running the gurdwaras in accordance with principles of Sikhism,
Tohra has been violating these principles with impunity whenever it suited his political interests and this, hassled to erosion of the Sikhs’ faith in the SGPC and its ability to manage the gurdwaras and uphold the sacred covenants of Sikhism, he added.
Prof Darshan Singh said people like Tohra should know that Sikhs from all over the world come to Golden Temple to pay obeisance at the sacred shrine and not to pay obeisance to the Sikh Gurdwara Act under which the SGPC was formed to run the historical Sikh shrines.
Jasvir Singh Rode, who has refused to accept his sack as Jathedar of the Akal Takht, also criticized the functioning of the SGPC, saying it has not been working in consonance with the tenets of Sikhism. He said he was appointed Jathedar by the “Sarbat Khalsa” and, therefore, SGPC, which had subsequently ratified the appointment, has no right to remove him from the office. He said he would assert his authority as “Jathedar” after consulting religious leaders of the Khalsa panth.
Taksal chief spokesperson Mohkam Singh alleged that SGPC has tarnished the image of Khalsa panth by refusing entry to Granth Sahib, Panj Pyaras and Guru ki Sangat. He likened the SGPC Act to the act of dhirmalias who had not allowed ninth Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur to enter the Golden Temple complex similarly.
Mohkam Singh, who was assisted by Didar Singh and Lakha Singh of the Damdami Taksal, charged the SGPC additional secretary Kulwant Singh and Golden Temple manager Raghbir Singh of having violated the understanding they had reached with the Taksal representatives through the good offices of the Amritsar district authorities by disallowing, the entry and also refusing the Taksal men to baptize Sikhs in the longer building.
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Article extracted from this publication >> November 3, 1995
