Akal Takht officiating Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj found himself in an awkward and embarrassing situation during a programme held on the premises of the Akal Takht in the presence of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) officials and other attendees.
The incident occurred during an event organised by the SGPC-sponsored Akhand Kirtani Jatha at Gurdwara Shaheed Baba Gurbax Singh Jee, located just behind the Akal Takht. The event was held to commemorate Bhai Mehal Singh Babbar, the general secretary of the Babbar Khalsa outfit, who recently passed away at Sri Nankana Sahib in Pakistan.
Following the culmination of the ‘bhog’ ceremony, SGPC secretary Partap Singh handed over a ‘siropa’ (robe of honour) to Giani Gargaj to be presented to the family members of the deceased.
However, before he could proceed, Sikh activist Jarnail Singh Sakhira intervened and objected to the presentation. Speaking out loud, Sakhira said, “Jathedar Saheb, eh na karo… Tuhanu quom Jathedar nahin mandi,” meaning, “Jathedar Saheb, don’t do this, the community does not accept you as Jathedar.”
Giani Gargaj responded to the protest with folded hands and stepped back from the act, acknowledging the dissent. The situation was calmed when Giani Baljit Singh, Granthi of the Golden Temple, was asked to step in and present the siropas instead.
Explaining his protest, Jarnail Singh Sakhira asserted that the Sikh community, or ‘Panth’, only recognized Jagtar Singh Hawara as the legitimate Jathedar of the Akal Takht.
Hawara, who is currently serving a life sentence in Delhi’s Tihar Jail for the assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, was appointed as Jathedar during the controversial Sarbat Khalsa held at Chabba village in Amritsar in November 2015. In Hawara’s absence, Dhyan Singh Mand was appointed as the acting Jathedar.
These appointments were made in defiance of the then SGPC-backed Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh, particularly in response to widespread anger over the controversial pardon granted to the head of the Dera Sacha Sauda cult, which was later withdrawn amid public backlash.
Sakhira, who was one of the key organisers of the 2015 Sarbat Khalsa, maintained that any Jathedar appointed by the SGPC under the influence of the Badal political family was not accepted by the Panth.
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He questioned how Giani Gargaj could present a siropa when his appointment had never been recognised by their section of the community. He added that Giani Gargaj’s decision to withdraw upon objection was a sign of mutual understanding of this lack of acceptance.
Further criticising the SGPC, Sakhira said that in the absence of any formal and transparent procedures for appointing Jathedars, the SGPC had become a puppet of the Shiromani Akali Dal, appointing only those who aligned with their political stance while sidelining dissenters in a disrespectful manner.
He stated that the protest was not limited to Giani Gargaj’s appointment alone, but extended to a broader rejection of all SGPC-nominated Jathedars.
When asked whether their opposition aligned with groups like Damdami Taksal and others who had raised concerns over recent removals of Jathedars such as Giani Raghbir Singh, Giani Sultan Singh, and Giani Harpreet Singh, Sakhira clarified that his group had no association with those bodies and their stance was independent of any faction or institutional protest.
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