AMRITSAR: The release of Akal Takht jathedar, Bhai Ranjit Singh from Tihar Jail on Saturday is likely to have far reaching political implications as far as Sikhs are concerned. He will replace acting jathedar Manjit Singh of Gurdwara Kesgarh Sahib. Though appointed jathedar of the Takht in 1989, Bhai Ranjit Singh never assumed office as he was serving a prison term. He is expected to formally take over after results of the elections held on Sun day, are declared and new Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) house is constituted next week. Since Bhai Ranjit Singh is considered a hardcore Sikh ideologue and might create fresh problems for Gurcharan Singh Tohra who has lately been propounding the concept of Hindu Sikh unity, according to observers here. Mr. Tohra, who is expected to get elected as president of the SGPC again, may face an ideological conduct if Bhai Ranjit Singh sticks to his old philosophy, they add. Serious fallout of his release will be the easing out of Manjit Singh, considered to be a close lieutenant of Mr. Tohra; from the office of jathedar. Manjit Singh had faced a lot of flak in the wake of the Tohra Badal conflict last year. He had been charged with playing second fiddle to Mr. Tohra. Bhai Ranjit Singh was appointed jathedar of the Takht in 1989 when he was in prison after being accused of killing the then Nirankari chief in Delhi in 1980. Being a hardcore militant, he was closely associated with the Akhand Kirtani Jatha, a group of ideologues; He was declared jathedar of the Takht in controversial circumstances after Darshan Singh Ragi quit the office following differences with Mr. Tohra. It was reported that Mr. Tohra has appointed him because of pressure from militant groups who wanted to project Bhai Ranjit Singh as a “hero” of the community. An intense tug-of-war had ensued among the militant groups to grab the coveted post. Before he was arrested, Bhai Ranjit Singh was reported to have been in close contact with Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Later he fell out with him and joined hands with Sant Harcharan Singh Longowal.

Article extracted from this publication >>  October 16, 1996