Akalis Atonement: Akal Takht bypassed, maryada violated, says panthic leaders

  • | Tuesday | 11th December, 2018

AMRITSAR: Panthic leaders are livid over what they call Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leadership’s “self-imposed atonement, whose date and time was also decided by its leadership”. The five Sikh high priests would then decide the atonement to be pronounced upon the person. They should have performed sewa like humble Sikhs and not under media spotlight and tight security, the former jathedar added.“They (SAD leaders) cannot absolve themselves of the mistakes with self-imposed religious punishment of ‘sewa’. This is now sewa,” he added. Panth knows them very well and they wouldn’t make any electoral gain out of it,” he said.TOI also talked to a couple of devotees who were present in Golden Temple during the bhog ceremony.

AMRITSAR: Panthic leaders are livid over what they call Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leadership’s “self-imposed atonement, whose date and time was also decided by its leadership”. Badal family has exonerated itself of its ‘mistakes’ by bypassing the Akal Takht and “performing sewa under media spotlight”, they say.While political opponents of SAD have called the atonement act, “political theatrics” by Badals ahead of Lok Sabha elections, the religious leaders of Sikh community have censured the party top brass for violating the maryada (religious code of conduct).“According to maryada, if any Sikh commits mistake and wants to seek forgiveness, he or she should approach Akal Takht. The five Sikh high priests would then decide the atonement to be pronounced upon the person. But in this case, SAD itself decided atonement, as well as, its date and time, which is a mockery of Akal Takht maryada,” said Bhai Baldev Singh Wadala, president of Sikh Sadbhawna Dal, while talking to TOI on Monday.Former hazuri ragi of the Golden Temple, Bhai Baldev, had opposed appointment of former chief secretary of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) Harcharan Singh on hefty monthly package. He had also exposed consumption of meat and alcohol in SGPC-managed Gurdwara Baba Gurdi, Anandpur, before being sacked by the SGPC.Wadala, along with other Sikh men and women, staged a protest against the self-imposed atonement by SAD leadership and also demanded stripping of ‘Panth Rattan Fakhr-e-Quam’ title given to former CM Parkash Singh Badal by a former jathedar of Akal Takht appointed by him.Echoing Bhai Baldev, former jathedar of Akal Takht Bhai Ranjit Singh said that if SAD leadership wanted to seek apology of their mistakes then they should have first approached Akal Takht and not bypass it. They should have performed sewa like humble Sikhs and not under media spotlight and tight security, the former jathedar added.“They (SAD leaders) cannot absolve themselves of the mistakes with self-imposed religious punishment of ‘sewa’. Panth knows them very well and they wouldn’t make any electoral gain out of it,” he said.TOI also talked to a couple of devotees who were present in Golden Temple during the bhog ceremony. While many of them spoke out against Akalis way of atonement, few of them wanted to give their name.Ludhiana businessmen Mukhtiar Singh said, “As far as I know, ‘sewa’ is performed without telling anyone and like a humble Sikh.”He said when he came to know about the SAD leaders doing sewa in Golden Temple, he searched their Facebook pages and was surprised to see the live streaming of sewa being performed by them.“In my opinion, they are camping in Amritsar with their IT team to upload their photos and videos on social media regularly. This is now sewa,” he added.

If You Like This Story, Support NYOOOZ

NYOOOZ SUPPORTER

NYOOOZ FRIEND

Your support to NYOOOZ will help us to continue create and publish news for and from smaller cities, which also need equal voice as much as citizens living in bigger cities have through mainstream media organizations.


Stay updated with all the Amritsar Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.

Related Articles

‘Emotional intelligence need of hour’
  • Wednesday | 11th December, 2019
Schools need to beef up students’ EQ
  • Wednesday | 11th December, 2019