'Ideological assault': Badal slams appointment of non-Sikh as Takht Hazur Sahib’s administrator

Chandigarh, Aug 7

Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Badal on Monday came down heavily against the appointment of a non-Sikh as administrator of the sacred Takht Sachkhand Sri Hazur Abchalnagar Sahib in Maharashtra, calling it "a part of a dangerous ideological assault on the separate Sikh identity".

"This is a continuation of the persistent attacks on and interference in the internal religious affairs of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC)," he said.

In separate letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Badal called for immediate reversal of the decision and for appointment of “a Pooran Gur Sikh” (a fully practicing Sikh) from among the bureaucrats as administrator of the Takht associated with the founder of the Khalsa Panth, Guru Gobind Singh.

He also urged the Centre and the Maharashtra government to show greater sensitivity to Sikh sentiments, and asserted that the Sikh sangat "spearheaded by the SGPC and SAD won’t allow these conspiracies to succeed".

Badal said the decision "rubs salt into the already deep and festering wounds of the Khalsa Panth. Could they not find a single Sikh in the country to replace Parvinder Singh Pasricha even if at all he had to be replaced? Does the government want to show that the Sikhs themselves cannot manage their own religious affairs and that the governments will always interfere in our sacred religious matters with sheer arrogance and insensitivity?"

The Akali chief also said with this step, the dangerous intent behind the attack on SGPC image and autonomy is finally out.

"A full-scale assault on Sikh philosophy and practices is visible in the attack on Sikh institutions, especially against the SGPC."

The SAD chief said already there was "a growing resentment in the Sikh masses against what is seen as the on-going conspiracy to snatch and destroy the unique and separate religious ideology and identity of the Sikh quom (community) by forcibly usurping control of Sikh religious institutions. This decision as well as attacks on SGPC was parts of that conspiracy."