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Akal Takht has convened a special meeting of the five Sikh high priests today
Amritsar: The simmering standoff between the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and the AAP-led Punjab Government is set to intensify, with the Akal Takht convening a special meeting of the five Sikh high priests on December 28. The meeting comes days after the Punjab Police constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe an FIR against 16 SGPC employees over the alleged disappearance of 328 saroops (holy volumes) of Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj, the acting Jathedar of the Akal Takht, will chair the meeting.
SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami strongly criticised the government’s move, calling it a direct challenge to the authority of the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhism. Dhami maintained that the SGPC had already acted on the matter in line with the findings of a three-member inquiry panel constituted by the Akal Takht and headed by Ishar Singh.
He said the SGPC General House had passed a resolution, accepted moral responsibility and sought forgiveness from the Khalsa Panth. Emphasising that the issue pertained to financial and administrative lapses rather than sacrilege, Dhami argued that criminal proceedings were unwarranted.
On December 7, the Amritsar Police registered two FIRs involving SGPC personnel. One FIR names 16 employees and office-bearers in connection with the missing 328 saroops. The second FIR pertains to two retired SGPC employees accused of approving the publication of the Hindi book Sikh Itihas, which was later banned and withdrawn by the SGPC.
The latest flashpoint adds to a series of confrontations between the Akal Takht and the AAP government. On November 20, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann had questioned the legitimacy of Gargaj’s appointment as acting Jathedar. Gargaj declined to respond, asserting that the Chief Minister did not meet the religious criteria to ask the Akal Takht’s authority.
Earlier, a controversy had erupted in July after the state Language Department organised a programme in Srinagar to mark the 350th martyrdom anniversary of Guru Teg Bahadur, during which a video showing a dance performance went viral. The Akal Takht subsequently directed the Punjab Government to support Sikh institutions, including the SGPC, in organising religious events.
Despite this, the state government held separate commemorative programmes for Guru Teg Bahadur’s martyrdom, a move that further irked the Akal Takht. Sikh clergy insisted that the SGPC should be allowed to lead all religious observances. At the same time, the government should confine itself to civic responsibilities such as improving infrastructure and facilities around historic gurdwaras linked to the ninth Sikh Guru.
With the December 28 meeting, the Akal Takht is expected to take a decisive view on the SIT probe and the widening rift between Sikh religious institutions and the state government, setting the stage for another critical phase in Punjab’s fraught religion–politics interface.
