AMRITSAR: The Five Member Panthic Committee declared that it no longer recognizes Prof.Darshan Singh as the Acting Jathedar of Akal Takht and also submitted a charge sheet against him to the four Head Priests. It demanded from them that a Sarbat Khalsa Convention should be held on Diwali and a new Jathedar of Akal Takht should be appointed in place of Prof.Darshan Singh who has forfeited the confidence of the Sikhs by his pro-government and anti-freedom fighters’ stance, The allegation against Darshan Singh ran into six handwritten pages in the form of 15 questions. He has been accused of bartering away the interests of the Panth and challenging the sovereignty of the Akal Takht. The strong indictment of Darshan Singh is well times. It comes in the wake of the reports that efforts are on to persuade him to return to Akal Takht, Both the S.G.P.C. and the Unified Akali Dal have jointly appealed to him to resume his duties but the contradictory stands taken by a UAD youth wing President, Sher Singh Dhumsheri and the UAD Member of Parliament, Charanjit Singh Wali, speak for themselves. The Committee’s most serious allegation against Darshan Singh is his going back on Khalistan resolution endorsed at the Sarbat Khalsa Convention of January 26,1986 when he along with the other four Priests was formally installed. A Committee’s spokesman told newsmen inside the Golden Temple Complex that if Darshan Singh had any differences of opinion on the issue he should have then walked out of the Sarbat Khalsa Convention as Baba Joginder Singh had done on that occasion, Other issue that annoyed the Committee was Darshan Singh’s refusal to accept the previous Sarbat Khalsa and submit to. the supremacy of the Committee. In his view there was no such concept as Panthic Committee which could give orders to the Singh Sahibs. Prof.Darshan Singh has reservations on returning to Amritsar despite appeals made to him. He insists that a congenial atmosphere must prevail inside the Golden Temple before he returns.

Article extracted from this publication >> October 9, 1992