Chandigarh, October 30
Bir Devinder Singh, Former Deputy Speaker, of Punjab Vidhan Sabha has denounced the ordinance promulgated by Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya for the appointment of Patron to Sikh Gurdwaras.
“The Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya’s ordinance that entails setting up a 41 members ad hoc committee to manage the affairs of the Gurdwaras in the State of Haryana; till the elections were held for the formation of new Gurdwara Committee is blatantly offensive and violates the fundamental tenets of the Sikh religious philosophy. The Government of Haryana led by its Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar forcibly exercised similar brutal powers, which the Britishers used to exercise against Sikh shrines till 1920 to give control of the Sikh Shrines to their toadies (The sycophants),” said Bir Devinder.
“The late Sardar Bahadur Sir Arur Singh of Naushahra was appointed as the Sarbarah (Administrator) of the Principal Sikh shrines at Amritsar and Taran Taran from 1907 to 1920. And it was the same Aroor Singh who along with some other priests of Durbar Sahib, Amritsar publicly honored General Dyre, who was responsible for the massacre of Jallianwala Bagh in 1919 and bestowed upon him the Siropa (The Sikh Robe of Honor) within the precinct of Durbar Sahib. The similarity could easily be drawn to today’s Gurdwara committee of Haryana, to be appointed under the ordinance by the BJP Government, which will only be stuffed with the RSS sycophants close to Manohar Lal Khattar. And ironically, it will be no different in nuance than that of the likes of the late Sir Aroor Singh, who happened to be a stooge of the Britishers. I am afraid there seems to be no dearth of such ‘toadies of RSS and BJP’ in Haryana. The unfortunate development in Haryana has completely nullified the impact of the sacrifices made by the Sikh community, during the Gurudwara reform movement,” he added.
“It is significant to point out here that The Philosophy of the Sikh religion does not permit any individual to become the ‘Patron’ of the Gurudwaras. As a matter of faith, the Sikh ethos and thought do not hold any individual or authority, over and above the glory of Sri Guru Granth Sahib. For the Sikh devotees; Sri Guru Granth Sahib is the divine incarnation and the supreme living form of the Guru and most importantly the Supreme Court of India in its judicious wisdom has admitted this very significant actuality of truth. Therefore when in any Gurudwara (Sikh Temple) where the divine Scripture i.e. Sri Guru Granth Sahib is placed in open position; sanctum-sanctorum, the place routinely becomes blessed with divine radiance hence it does not require the patronage of any ‘individual’ appointed as such as the Patron of the Gurdwaras in Haryana State, under the detestable ordinance promulgated by the Haryana Governor. Most repugnantly the State Government of Haryana has also added Sub Section (9) to Section 16 of the Act which reads; that the State Government may nominate one of the members of the Committee or the ad hoc committee as the case may be as patron and the patron shall be a member of the elected executive board of the Gurdwaras. Let Baljit Singh Daduwal or any other Sikh leader of Haryana, elucidate and put it in plain words to the Sikh Sangat, with reference to the Sikh ethos and the Gur-Mariyada; if there could be any provision to appoint an individual as a patron of the Gurdwara, over and above the Glory of Sri Guru Granth Sahib ?,” expressed Bir Devinder.
