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Tohra asks Sikhs to boycott Akali Dal

Jaspal Singh Sidhu in Ambala

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandak Committee president Gurcharan Singh Tohra has asked Sikhs to boycott the ruling Akali Dal and state government functions in Punjab to protest against the police entry into the Golden Temple complex and Wednesday's 'illegal and forcible' removal of Akal Takht jathedar Bhai Ranjit Singh.

Addressing a public meeting at the bhog ceremony of Akali Dal MP Prem Singh Chandumajra's mother, Tohra announced that he will resign as SGPC president if the Akal Takht jathedar allows him to do so tomorrow.

Acting SGPC president Sukhdev Singh Bhaur also announced that all five Committee executive members owing allegiance to Tohra would quit office if the SGPC president resigns.

Shiromani Akali Dal senior vice-president Surjan Singh Thekedar also announced his decision to resign from the party office in protest against the police entry in the Golden Temple and the Akal Takht jathedar's removal, at Punjab Chief Minister and SAD president Parkash Singh Badal's behest.

Tohra compared the police entry with the army action during Operation Blue Star in June 1984. He also drew a parallel with Afghan invader Ahmed Shah Abdali's attack on the Golden Temple complex in the 18th century and desecration of the Sikh sanctum sanctorum on several other occasions in history.

In Amritsar, Bhai Ranjit Singh, suspended as Akal Takht jathedar on Wednesday by the pro-Badal dominated SGPC executive, today appealed to the Sikh quam not to trust Chief Minister Badal for he had violated the Sikh maryada and tarnished the Akal Takht's image, the highest religio-temporal seat of the Sikhs.

In a message read out from the Akal Takht over the public address system, he claimed that Badal had attacked the principles of miri and piri (religious and temporal) of the Akal Takht.

The jathedar announced that the meeting of the five Singh Sahibs (five head priests) which was to be held on Thursday at the Akal Takht had been postponed indefinitely as the Panj Piara quorum could not be completed.

He later alleged that Giani Mohan Singh, the head granthi of the Golden Temple, and Giani Charan Singh, a priest of the temple, had been 'kidnapped' to prevent them from taking part in the meeting.

Besides Bhai Ranjit Singh, Giani Bhagwan Singh, the head granthi of the Akal Takht, Giani Gurbachan Singh, a priest of the Golden Temple, and Giani Tirlochan Singh, head granthi of the Takht Keshgarh Sahib, were present alongside the sacked jathedar when he read out the message.

Tohra said the Badal government had launched a war against the Sikh traditions, Sikh ideology and Sikh way of life with the sole motive of retaining power. "It is most unfortunate that a government who secured votes in the name of the Sikh Panth and claims to be the representative of the Sikhs had mounted an attack on the Akal Takht on the lines of the Congress," he added.

The Badal government has lost the moral right to be the government of the Sikh panth, Tohra said, and asked the Sikhs to boycott it till the maryada of the Akal Takht was restored.

Meanwhile, the SAD political affairs committee meeting, scheduled for Thursday, has been postponed indefinitely, in the wake of Wednesday's political developments.

Badal had on February 7 called the meeting for today to discuss the quami agenda for the Khalsa tricentenary celebrations as sought by the now ousted Akal Takht jathedar Bhai Ranjit Singh.

Earlier, Giani Puran Singh, the newly appointed acting jathedar of the Akal Takht, postponed indefinitely the meeting of the five Sikh head priests. The meeting was scheduled to take place on Thursday.

Speaking to newsmen after accepting the offer of the 10 pro-Badal SGPC executive committee members regarding his elevation from his present post of priest of the Golden Temple to the acting jathedar, Giani Puran Singh claimed he had accepted the post without any pressure being applied from any quarter, "I accept the offer to serve the Panth," he added.

According to sources, a number of senior ministers of the Badal cabinet and SGPC members met Giani Puran Singh to persuade him to accept the post.

Thursday's meeting had been convened by Bhai Ranjit Singh to consider the appeal by 131 SGPC members urging him to repeal the December 31 hukamnama issued against Takht Keshgarh Sahib jathedar Professor Manjit Singh and Punjabi daily Ajit editor Barjinder Singh Hamdard. The priest and the editor along with Ajit reporter Major Singh had been summoned to appear before the clergy on Wednesday for their alleged anti-Panthic activities. Hamdard is one of Parkash Singh Badal's advisers.

When reporters pointed out that Giani Puran Singh's appointment was 'illegal,' SGPC general secretary Balbir Singh Pannu, a Badal supporter who was also present at the press briefing, claimed that the agenda on the acting jathedar's appointment had been kept pending.

The SGPC executive, which consisted of 10 members loyal to Badal, had earlier on Wednesday appointed Giani Mohan Singh, the head granthi of the Golden Temple as acting jathedar. But they were forced to reverse their decision after Giani Mohan Singh turned down their offer and expressed his solidarity with Bhai Ranjit Singh.

The press briefing, which was held at the home of a local Akali leader, was cordoned off by the police. In the presence of newsmen, Giani Puran Singh received phone calls congratulating him on his elevation.

When newsmen wanted to ask Giani Puran Singh some more questions, he was whisked away by a number of senior Akali leaders, who included Punjab Forest Development Corporation chairman Manjinder Singh Kang, a relative of Badal.

Giani Puran Singh, who had been backed as granthi of the Golden Temple along with the then Akal Takht head Jasbir Singh Rode in 1988, went straight to the Golden Temple to perform his religious duties there.

According to SGPC employees, Giani Puran Singh who was initially reluctant to hold the post when approached by executive members, was driven to the circuit house in Amritsar where a number of ministers were staying.

In the presence of the ministers and pro-Badal Akali Dal executive members he accepted the post, sources said.

In order to reverse its decision regarding Giani Mohan Singh's appointment as acting jathedar, the 10 SGPC executive members held a second meeting at the circuit house and decided to appointment Giani Puran Singh to the post.

Meanwhile, the SGPC claimed that the meeting of the pro-Badal executive committee members was illegal and against the verdict of the Sikh Gurdwara Judicial Commission and the Gurdwara Act.

It said the decision taken by the executive at its meeting at the Guru Nanak Niwas inside the Golden Temple complex on Giani Mohan Singh's appointment could not be reversed.

The sources said the judicial commission had in its February 3 order categorically specified the time and venue of the meeting which was Guru Nanak Niwas. Moreover, any major decision that had to be reversed could only be done so with a prior 72 hours notice to all 15 SGPC executive committee members.

Giani Puran Singh was close to the militant Damdami Taksal which was once headed by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.

Simranjit Singh Mann, president Akali Dal (Amritsar), announced that his party will observed Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale's birthday as protest day against the police entry in the Golden Temple complex.

Several Akali leaders including Kuldip Singh Wadala, Chandumajra and Surjan Thekedar lashed out at the chief minister's act to send the police into the Golden Temple. They described Bhai Ranjit Singh as a hero of the Sikh community who had made a big sacrifice for the Sikh cause and spent more than 12 years in jail.

UNI

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