Sri Akal Takht Sahib Re-Emphasizes Sandesh Of 2006

[Satkaar]

Press Release & Sangat Update

Amritsar, India

27 September 2011

www.SatkaarCampaign.blogspot.com

Sri Akal Takht Sahib re-emphasizes Sandesh of 2006

Meeting of Singh Sahibaans at Akal Takht Sahib recognises work of Satkaar Campaign

From left to right - Giani Mal Singh Granthi Darbar Sahib Amritsar, Jathedar Giani Iqbal Singh Takht Patna Sahib, Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh Akal Takht Sahib, Jathedar Giani Tirlochan Singh Takht Kesgarh Sahib and Jathedar Giani Balwant Singh Nandgarh Takht Damdama Sahib

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!

Satkaar Campaign Sevadaars are pleased to inform the UK Sikh Sangat that a meeting of five Singh Sahibaans at the Akal Takht Sahib on 26 September 2011 re-emphasized the Akal Takht’s Sandesh (edict) of 2006 prohibiting the consumption of meat and alcohol on all Gurdwara property.

The Jathedar of the Akal Takht Singh Sahib Giani Gurbachan Singh confirmed in a telephone conversation with Satkaar Campaign Sevadaars on 26 September 2011 that the five Singh Sahibaans discussed in their meeting correspondence received from the Satkaar Campaign in the matter of the 2006 Sandesh and confirmed that no functions with meat or alcohol are permitted whatsoever on Gurdwara owned property.

The Jathedar of the Akal Takht noted that Satkaar Campaign Sevadaars have been working to eradicate the sacrilege of party halls on Gurdwara premises in the UK and mandated management committees of Gurdwaras, Gurdwara Council’s, Panthic Jathebandees and Satkaar Campaign Sevadaars to work together to resolve the matter going forward. Satkaar Campaign Sevadaars have also been instructed to keep the secretariat of the Akal Takht up to date with progress on the issue and have been informed that should matters not be resolved satisfactorily the Akal Takht will take necessary action going forward.

The discussion of the 2006 Sandesh at the Singh Sahibaans meeting at the Akal Takht on 26 September followed meetings between Satkaar Campaign Sevadaars and the Jathedar of the Akal Takht during his recent visit to the UK. Satkaar Campaign Sevadaars provided a detailed background of the beadbi (sacrilege) taking place at a handful of Gurdwaras in the UK permitting the consumption of meat and alcohol on Gurdwara premises and also referred to suggestions that some Gurdwara committees may propose to try to get around the Sandesh by donating or selling at gross under-value Gurdwara owned property to third-parties for the purpose of continuing with parties on such premises. The Jathedar of the Akal Takht has taken serious note of this matter and has instructed the Satkaar Campaign to inform the secretariat of the Akal Takht of any such proposed course of action for intervention and resolution by the Akal Takht.

The Akal Takht Sahib meeting was attended by Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh Akal Takht Sahib Amritsar, Jathedar Giani Tirlochan Singh Takht Kesgarh Sahib, Jathedar Giani Balwant Singh Nandgarh Takht Damdama Sahib, Jathedar Giani Iqbal Singh Takht Patna Sahib and Giani Mal Singh Granthi Darbar Sahib Amritsar.

Satkaar Campaign Sevadaars understand that besides discussing the matter of the 2006 Sandesh, the Singh Sahibaans also discussed a number of other instances of beadbi of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji in India and abroad including the recent cases of the deliberate desecration of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji’s Saroops in Udhampur-Nalla Ropar and Pilibhit Uttaranchal. The Singh Sahibaans resolved to instruct the SGPC to take up the matter with the Punjab and Central governments for tougher action against those guilty of such heinous acts including prosecuting offenders with homicide under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code taking into account that Sri Guru Granth Sahib has been accorded juristic status for particular purposes by the Supreme Court of India. The meeting also resolved to instruct the SGPC to hold meetings with committees of all Gurdwaras, Sikh institutions and scholars to discuss the maintenance of the sanctity of the Guru Granth Sahib in all Gurdwaras. In other developments the Singh Sahibaans sought details from Gurdwara committees in Malaysia about a case of one Sarban Singh who was reported to have prepared and sold in part the largest Saroop of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji at 13 feet and 700 kg and summoned to appear before the Akal Takht in the next meeting another NRI Surinder Singh Dhesi who was reported to have prepared Saroops of Guru Granth Sahib containing a number of typographical errors.

Satkaar Campaign Sevadaars welcome the positive engagement of the Singh Sahibaans on matters of Satkaar for Guru Granth Sahib and we are humbled with the words of support and encouragement for the Satkaar Campaign received from the Akal Takht. The Satkaar Campaign Sevadaars remain committed to raising awareness of the gross sacrilege that a small minority of Gurdwara committees in the UK are continuing to commit by permitting the consumption of meat and alcohol on Gurdwara owned or related premises and we humbly request all Gurdwaras, Gurdwara Councils, Jathebandees and other Sikh organizations to work together to eradicate such practices from all Gurdwaras throughout the country.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!

[jassa]

Isnt it true as well that in the same meeting Akal Takth put a "STOP" on satkar committees direct actions instead they told the committee to report the matters to nearest takth sahib or SGPC instead of going and taking on the matters directly.

Why this happened and how come this part is missing in the above article ?

Also do you have any sort of printed acknowledgment because after the meeting there was a small press conference in which they said about the acknowledgment but in a very different tone which many satkar committee members ( most of them my good friends in my city doing seva in night at dukhnivaran sahib patiala ) didnt took in a positive way.

In punjab ... satkar committee members took this meeting and the outcome as trying to control their actions by badal so that there should not be any dera vs sikh clashes till the upcoming polls.

How true is this ?

I am not making any statement but just trying to clarify about what I heard.

[Pyara]

Isnt it true as well that in the same meeting Akal Takth put a "STOP" on satkar committees direct actions instead they told the committee to report the matters to nearest takth sahib or SGPC instead of going and taking on the matters directly.

Why this happened and how come this part is missing in the above article ?

The article focusses on the issues raised by Satkaar Campaign UK regarding the UK issues. The UK issues were probably only a small part of the discussions at Akal Takht Sahib yesterday, so I guess it is inappropriate to comment on other discussions from the Punj Singh Sahibaan regarding Satkaar Committee in Punjab or any other Gursikh sevadaars .

Certainly, regarding issues of beadbi in the UK, the Jathedar has made it clear that Akal Takht will intervene when issues are escalated to them. I suppose the aim in the UK would be to make all attempts to resolve issues of beadbi locally first with the help of the local leadership such Sikh Council UK and other local Panthic Organisations.

[singh211]

great work by satkaar campaign - keep it up!

surely this means there can be no more excuses for gurdwara's having party halls in the UK i think its now time for every jathebandee and organisation to put pressure on the parbandak committees to finally put an end to this beadbi

jassa veer jee i think satkaar campaign UK will focus their press realeses about the UK issue to do with meat and alcohol parties

regarding india issues the akal takht meeting praised all singhs for taking a stand but asked everyone to work together to prevent beadbi and put pressure on the government to register murder cases against guilty persons so it didnt get to the stage of singhs threatening to take direct action to punish the guilty like in udampur case

[zoltansingh]

Whats the point in this when they fail to take action against the Delhi prabandakhs for what has been happening at the hall at Gurdwara Rakabganj Sahib in Delhi?

The current Akal Takht Jathedar was provided with video and photograhic proof of the meat, smoking etc at this hall more more than a year ago. They were going to summon Sarna but nothing was heard about this ever again.

[Pyara]

Whats the point in this when they fail to take action against the Delhi prabandakhs for what has been happening at the hall at Gurdwara Rakabganj Sahib in Delhi?

The current Akal Takht Jathedar was provided with video and photograhic proof of the meat, smoking etc at this hall more more than a year ago. They were going to summon Sarna but nothing was heard about this ever again.

I fully understand why most of us take this stance, but in reality we’re not going to do ourselves any favours by boycotting the authority of Akal Takht Sahib. We recognize a need for authority in earthly matters but our problem is we need to make the same judgment regarding our dharamic/panthic issues. Gursikhs realised this very early on after Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaj left authority to the Panth and exercised the authority through the Sarbat Khalsa using Akal Takht Sahib as the base.

Without promoting a unified Sikh seat of authroity we weaken our level of autonomous control but on the other hand we need to ensure we have the truthful and ethical influence within our seat of authority. Fully agree as we can’t deny it’s being tampered with, so whilst most of us probably agree with what you say, on the other hand we cannot be seen not to be escalating dharmic/panthic masle to Akal Takht Sahib.

But without promoting a unified maryada and protocol we show no regulation and that’s the loophole the culprits who do the beadbi current keep taking advantage of. The renegade UK prabhandaks that allow meat sharab on Gurdwara premises feel no accountability and perhaps we can attempt to rock their conscience (or personal integrity) by confidently being able to escalate issues to Akal Takht Sahib. We can only wait and see what the secretariat of Akal Takht Sahib then do!

[zoltansingh]

I fully understand why most of us take this stance, but in reality we’re not going to do ourselves any favours by boycotting the authority of Akal Takht Sahib. We recognize a need for authority in earthly matters but our problem is we need to make the same judgment regarding our dharamic/panthic issues. Gursikhs realised this very early on after Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaj left authority to the Panth and exercised the authority through the Sarbat Khalsa using Akal Takht Sahib as the base.

Without promoting a unified Sikh seat of authroity we weaken our level of autonomous control but on the other hand we need to ensure we have the truthful and ethical influence within our seat of authority. Fully agree as we can’t deny it’s being tampered with, so whilst most of us probably agree with what you say, on the other hand we cannot be seen not to be escalating dharmic/panthic masle to Akal Takht Sahib.

But without promoting a unified maryada and protocol we show no regulation and that’s the loophole the culprits who do the beadbi current keep taking advantage of. The renegade UK prabhandaks that allow meat sharab on Gurdwara premises feel no accountability and perhaps we can attempt to rock their conscience (or personal integrity) by confidently being able to escalate issues to Akal Takht Sahib. We can only wait and see what the secretariat of Akal Takht Sahib then do!

They failed to take action against the Delhi Prabandakhs who are literally on their doorstep, what type of message does that send to people allowing meat, sharab etc in countries like England? Until they back up their sandesh and meetings with action these type of meetings are a waste of time.

[Only five]

They failed to take action against the Delhi Prabandakhs who are literally on their doorstep, what type of message does that send to people allowing meat, sharab etc in countries like England? Until they back up their sandesh and meetings with action these type of meetings are a waste of time.

Just to elobrate here. Sri Akal Takht Sahib has no enforcers. What is an authority without a force to implement what the Hukams and sandesh are saying. They can issue all the hukams they want, they can cut anyone out of the Khalsa Panth, but they have no enforcers. Sri Akal Takht Sahib and the Khalsa fauj has very important significance in Sikhi, but until Sri Akal Takht Sahib doesn't make a fauj of the Khalsa, they are literally a sitting duck.

[osingh]

I have to to say this hukkamnama is ajeeb (strange).

Why do Sikhs have to report an incident to Akal Takht/SGPC first before they take action.

How can a Gursikh stand by and let beadbi happen without taking any action?

The respect for regime at Akal Takht is at a low point. Surely Gursikhs have upmost respect for sri Akal Takht, its the Sikh leaders who we have lost faith in. This all comes down to politicians getting involved in Sikh affairs. How can a politician have so much influence over Sikh affairs?

The whole system need to be changed so that politicians of any party do not have influence when it comes to panthic Sikh issues.

Unfortunately, I don't see how we can remove the politics from our highest committee SGPC and sri Akal Takht anytime soon.