AAP Sikh MLAs and ministers appear before Akal Takht Acting Jathedar Kuldeep Singh Gargaj and four other high priests to present the government’s stance on the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act in Amritsar on Monday. Legislators from other parties are also seen.
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Akal Takht Acting Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj on Monday directed the Punjab Government to remove “objectionable” clauses in the anti-sacrilege law within a month, conveying the message through Sikh ministers and MLAs who appeared before the Takht after being summoned.The Jathedar also told the government to keep the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Act on hold until the amendments were made. The legislators, for their part, “agreed” to carry out the changes.
It was the first time that all Sikh ministers and MLAs cutting across party lines appeared before the Akal Takht. There were 87 MLAs at the meeting at the Akal Takht Secretariat, of them 69 from the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), 15 Congress, two Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and one Independent. In earlier instances, the leaders had gone individually.
Addressing the lawmakers, Gargaj said the government had been “misled” while drafting the law. “Those who prepared the Bill did not have proper understanding of the Sikh traditions and Panthic practices, which led to an unnecessary controversy and confusion. The Act has created fear and misunderstanding among devotees,” he said. The Jathedar assured the government of full cooperation from the Akal Takht if the Act was amended as per the Sikh sentiments and the established Panthic traditions.
One of the main issues discussed during the hearing was the definition of “custodian” in the Bill and the proposal to create a central register of Guru Granth Sahib saroops. Gargaj warned that putting registry details online could reveal the locations of saroops kept in private homes and gurdwaras, exposing devotees to unnecessary problems.
The Jathedar said maintaining records of Guru Granth Sahib birs and supervising their publication was the responsibility of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), not the government. He also criticised the use of word “saroop” instead of traditional Sikh term “bir” in the legislation.
Asked by Gargaj whether they had read the Bill, most MLAs said they received the draft Bill only a short while before it was passed in the Assembly, and that they “didn’t get enough time to go through it”. AAP MLAs Jagrup Singh Gill (Bathinda) and Kulwant Singh (Mohali) admitted to having “approved the Bill without reading it”.
Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan told the Jathedar that after he was summoned by the Akal Takht in May, he had immediately forwarded the Takht’s written objections to the government and the Chief Minister’s Office. He said amending the law was within the powers of the Assembly and they were open to making changes.
“We will give you our objections in writing. Call the Assembly and remove these objections within a month,” said Gargaj.
Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa demanded that the report of the select committee be presented and discussed in the Assembly before any amended Bill was taken up.
Congress MLA Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa said the Cabinet had approved the Bill on April 11, it was uploaded on the government website late on April 12 and the MLAs received it on April 13, the day it was passed in the Assembly.
Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira said the Assembly was paperless and the members could only see the draft on the screens placed before them after the House session began. He accused the government of passing the Bill in “secrecy and haste”.
When Minister Harpal Singh Cheema referred to an earlier Akal Takht edict (hukamnama) regarding the use of the word “custodian”, in which granthis and gurdwara committees were to be held responsible, the Jathedar said the edict did not prescribe any legal punishment for gurdwara staff. “It only speaks of religious punishment, not legal punishment,” the Jathedar said.
SAD MLA Ganieve Kaur Majithia said she did not attend the Assembly on the day the Bill was passed as the Akal Takht had advised that the Takht and the SGPC be consulted first. She also complained that she was insulted in the Assembly.
At the end of the meeting, all MLAs raised their hands and agreed to make the amendments sought by the Takht.
Among those who spoke during the meeting were Sandhwan, ministers Gurmeet Singh Khuddian and Harpal Cheema; AAP MLAs Manjit Singh Bilaspur, Jagrup Gill and Baljinder Kaur; Congress leaders Partap Bajwa, Khaira, Pargat Singh and Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa; SAD’s Ganieve Kaur and Manpreet Singh Ayali; and Independent MLA Rana Inder Partap Singh. Two non-Sikh MLAs, Naresh Puri and Aruna Chaudhary of the Congress, were also present.
Four AAP non-Sikh MLAs–Aman Arora, Barinder Kumar Goyal, Lal Chand Kataruchak and Mohinder Bhagat–submitted their written explanation to the Akal Takht. Concluding the proceedings, Gargaj asked leaders of all political parties not to indulge in political blame games outside the Akal Takht. He said the issue concerned the collective honour and respect of Sri Guru Granth Sahib and should not become a matter of political victory or defeat. After the meeting, Harpal Cheema said, “The amendments will be sent to us through the Speaker and we will decide within a month.