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Strange ways of handling a sensitive issue
WSN Network

AMRITSAR: Of the hundreds of thousands of gurdwaras spread all over the country, and of the large number of gurdwaras in remote places where management often leaves much to be desired, an occasional aberration can be handled in a more deft manner. When religious sensibilities are involved, a firm but discrete handling of the situation is what one would expect from those handling the affairs of the SGPC.

Instead, the Sikh community has witnessed in recent days a total mishandling of an unsavoury situation. A couple of young SGPC employees, clearly not brought up in Sikh ethos and not trained in any seminary or missionary college and lacking basic value system, were caught in some act that was anathema to any Sikh.

As expected, there was some hue and cry and the SGPC was quick to take action. But what surprises most is the kind of media hoopla created over this by a bunch of newspapers forever looking for some masala story to denigrate Sikhs and Sikhism. Shockingly, the SGPC, instead of keeping its sense of proportion, joined the hype by arbitrarily deciding that all young granthis, pathis, kirtani Singhs working on temporary basis or on contract will be sacked and only people of a certain age can have better values.

The Indian media picked up the story and for days the SGPC was in a tizzy as young granthis and pathis who feared the sacking came out on the roads. It was clearly a stigma extraordinary that the SGPC action had slapped on them for no fault of theirs. Faced with protests, last Saturday, the SGPC made a somersault and said it will not be removing from service the `pathis' and `granthis' who were below 30 years of age but will be conducting a general enquiry about their character and job efficiency.

19 August 2009
 

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