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SGPC panel trashes UNESCO
dossier
WSN Network
 AMRITSAR:
The dossier once supplied to the UNESCO to solicit world heritage
status for Harmandar Sahib is full of blunders, the SGPC panel has
concluded, and recommended that the demand not be renewed under the
same set of guidelines.
The dossier is
not in tune with Sikh doctrinal principles as it carries erroneous
and contradictory perspective of certain Sikh ethos, the panel
states.
The then SGPC
General Secretary Kiranjot Kaur had got the dossier prepared by a
Delhi based expert, Gurmeet Rai. The SGPC and an NRI Sikh had shared
the Rs 40 lakh costs.
After supplying
the dossier to UNESCO through the Union Ministry, the SGPC had
withdrawn the same in 2005, in wake of a major controversy over the
issue.
The issue has
returned to haunt the Sikh body with the Sikh Gurdwara Judicial
Commission (SGJC) listing a petition of 2006 for hearing. Petitioner
Kanwarpal Singh of Dal Khalsa had sought the disqualification of all
SGPC functionaries responsible for supplying the dossier to UNESCO.
He had also sought to recover Rs 40 lakh incurred on preparing the
dossier from the committee functionaries, with interest.
Asked to
comment, SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar said that a final
decision would be taken shortly, after examining the panel report.
The panel
comprising Sikh scholars Dr Jasbir Singh Sabar, Pirthipal Singh
Kapoor, Dr Gurnek Singh and former SGPC Secretary Waryam Singh has
prepared the report. Punjabi University V-C Dr Jaspal Singh, Dr Jodh
Singh and Prof Balwant Singh Dhillon were also on the committee.
The panel had
also consulted a team of senior lawyers headed by Kanwaljit Singh.
September 1 is the next date of hearing.
The panel report
remarks that the dossier was contrary to the spirit of the Sikh
Gurdwara Act 1925, under which the SGPC is governed. Among the most
serious objections, the panel found that remarks such as Sikh
ideology is an imitation of Hindu, Islam and Buddhism, mixing up
Sikh religion with culture, describing the temporal seat of Akal
Takht as part of Akal Bungas, referring a Hukamnama as speech of
Guru, describing the Dasam Granth as another scripture of Sikh
religion, drawing a comparison of Om with Iqoamkar, using derogatory
terminology for holy sarovar and practice of baptism etc were
offensive.
The panel also
cites the move of seeking heritage status by accepting the UNESCO
guidelines of appointing two parallel heritage committees of
outsiders, by ignoring the fact that no non-baptized Sikh could
become the member of any such committee directly or indirectly
related to the affairs of Harmandar Sahib.
It also rejects
the idea of making Harmandar Sahib more popular by getting it listed
as a heritage site under UNESCO. The holy shrine already figures
among the five most famous sites in the world, it states.
26
August 2009
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