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Nanakshahi Calendar intact,
Jathedars dither
WSN Bureau
 AMRITSAR: In a
move that smacked of some behind-the-scenes pressure tactics, the
Five Singh Sahibans of the community huddled together at the Akal
Takht Sahib on Diwali day, to review the Nanakshahi Calendar adopted
after much discussion and approval by the Sikh nation in 2003. That
they were unable to do so is no credit to them. The heroes of that
day were Jathedar Balwant Singh Nandgarh of Takht Damdama Sahib and
the activists of the Sikh Diaspora in the United States, who smelled
the rat and cried hoarse throughout that day to all and sundry to
stall the move. And stalled they did.
It is not
difficult to speculate who was working overtime with SGPC president
Avtar Singh Makkar and special secretary to the Chief Minister
Daljit Singh Cheema visiting Amritsar the following day to evolve
some face saving decision from the Jathedars as the meeting spilled
over to the next day.
What was the
rationale for taking this step where the Jathedars showed themselves
in bad light and the Jathedar of Akal Takht Sahib, Giani Gurbachan
Singh had to issue a kind of clarification the following day?
Whether the meeting was held to scrap the calendar or to amend it,
why do such acts surreptitiously? What was the grand hurry to do so
on Bandi Chorr Diwas?
As a face saving
measure, the Jathedars referred the issue, on whose complaint, we
still don’t know to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee,
where it should have gone in the first place. It is time for the
Diaspora Sikhs and those in the homeland to ensure that before 25
December, Sikhs flood the SGPC with suggestions and submissions for
upholding the historic Nanakshahi Calendar, which is one major
achievement of the Sikhs in the last many decades which reinforces
the unique identity of the Sikh people.
I have spoken to
Pal Singh Purewal, the chief architect of the calendar, during my
trip to Edmonton a couple of months back and he is categorical about
the reasons for disparities in some dates. He said, “What I had done
in totality was not accepted and therefore some portions remain
unclear, if they allow me my full say, the calendar can be
fool-proof”.
There is no
doubt that though the government of India, the government of Punjab
and all other major Sikh institutions too have adopted and adapted
the calendar for working days and holidays, the Sikh institutions of
Patna and Nanded, the ubiquitous Sants and Deras of Punjab are still
not content with the change of dates from the earlier Bikrami
calendar.
 Members of the
Sikh Youth of America were quick to react through phones and emails
to the SGPC and Akal Takht Sahib, whereas Dal Khalsa submitted a
memorandum seeking a meeting of the Panthic Committee that was
formed for finalizing and adoption of the calendar. Dr. Pritpal
Singh of the American Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and former
SGPC secretary Manjit Singh Calcutta chided the SGPC and the
Jathedars for tampering with the institution of the calendar and
said that under no circumstances would they allow this to happen.
Sikh scholar and
writer Dr. Gurdarshan Singh Dhillon also raised his voice against
the move, whereas the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, who is suspected
to be behind the move, issued a clarification that “they were not
interested in the Nanakshahi Calendar at all.”
Come 5 January
next year and we would know whether our Jathedars will still succumb
to pressure or uphold the dignity and honour of the highest
institution of the Sikhs. The ball is in the court of the Sikh
Sangat.
21
October 2009
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