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WAR OF THE TAKHTS
It’s time the sangat spoke
up
WSN Bureau
Jathedars fight. Sikhs start to
murmur, and we hope it becomes a shout.
That is the only hope.
In this petty squabble among the Jathedars of the Takhts, it is the
shardha-bhawna, the feelings of the devout, that gets hurts the
most.
PATNA SAHIB/AMRITSAR: "N'
number of agendas won't do" was how the WSN editorial in the last
issue was titled, arguing that the community has to have a clearly
defined and thought-through aim. Clearly, someone did not like the
idea and thought N+1 agendas are even better. Sikh Takhts,
considered one of the greatest institutions of the panth, are found
quibbling, and the sangat is watching, helplessly.
Here is a
lowdown on the latest showdown:
●
 Takht Patna
Sahib jathedar Giani Iqbal Singh, without any provocation and with
no earlier debate marking the development, issued a hukumnama. The
Nanakshahi calendar stands rejected, it said, and so does the Sikh
Rehat Maryada as far as the banis of Nitnem were concerned.
● Next came the
reaction: Akal Takht jathedar rejects Giani Iqbal Singh's move, and
head of the Takht Patna Sahib Management Board Mohinder Singh Romana
says Iqbal Singh stands suspended.
● There was no
stopping this sorry saga. In less than 24 hours, Jathedar Iqbal
Singh said Romana was no one to suspend him, stood by his earlier
edict, and expressed
little humility
when he declared: "Romana has no authority to suspend me. Rather, I
can suspend him if need be this time too, as I did previously by
removing him as president of the Board for four consecutive years."
● The Jathedar
of Akal Takht, backed by Jathedars of two other Takhts within
Punjab, declared the hukumnama of Takht Patna Sahib as null and
void.
● Sikh
intellectuals, in a meeting held with the consent and on the nod of
SGPC member Avtar Singh Makkar, wanted summoning of Jathedar Iqbal
Singh.
● And the Patna
Sahib jathedar had a classic response: "If you dare do that, be
prepared to come to
Patna."
The Sikh community was left wondering whether this is how the great
community of the Gurus will decide about what almanac to follow.
 Why should any
dialogue among the highest in the domain of religion be so unsavoury
and public, and leave a bitter taste amongst all Sikhs worldwide?
"We are at pains to say that Gaini Iqbal Singh's irresponsible act
has triggered a tug of war between jathedars that has put the entire
community to shame. We feel they are themselves responsible for
undermining the august post.
It is simply
because the persons who have been serving at these posts were unfit
and have been appointed time to time to suit the interests of the
appointing authorities. In the absence of any clear guidelines and
procedures to appoint them, such a disappointing situationwas bound
to arise. What is happening is not new. Like now, in the past also
jathedars have put the community into embarrassing positions," said
the Dal Khalsa.
The fact
remained that neither the jathedar of the Takht Patna Sahib had any
right to effect any change in the maryada nor had he any power to
reject the Nanakshahi calendar. None, in fact, had any such right.
How can only jathedars take decisions pertaining to maryada? The
trend of making decisions regarding the entire community without any
consultation process with the larger Khalsa panth is responsible for
the latest confusion and ugly public war of statements.
Saner sections
of the Sikh panth believe that the Akali politics and inadequate
leadership of the SGPC are squarely responsible for the present
mess. The Dal Khalsa in fact minced no words in saying that the
"conduct of Parkash Singh Badal and other Akali stalwarts has
denigrated the decorum of the institution. The situation has reached
a point where ordinary Sikhs have dared to refuse to obey or follow
the orders of the Takht jathedars."
 Though the
Khalsa Action Committee's view on the issue has not been made public
loudly, and perhaps that is a better thing to do than join the
cacophony, the excessive tilting of the Damdami Taksal towards the
Takht Patna Sahib jathedar may be one of the reasons.
Trouble-shooters of Badal are busy trying to resolve the tangle but
the problem is that their vision doesn't get broader than the next
crisis, and thinking of the basic problem and the wider solutions is
beyond their capacity, or perhaps even inclination.
The Dal Khalsa
has decided to call a meet of panthic scholars and thinkers on
February 10 to discuss the role and powers of the jathedars. As for
the jathedar of the Akal Takht, Jathedar Joginder Singh Vedanti said
a decision on whether to summon Giani Iqbal Singh would be taken at
the next clergy meeting on February 5. The SGPC has also called its
executive body meeting on January 31 to assess the situation. God
save the Panth.
30 January 2008
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