How Is The Jathedar Of Sri Akaal Takhat Sahib Chosen?

[jkvlondon]

Please forgive me if you guys are not very familiar with Urdu. Listen to what Mr. Hassan Nisar is saying here about Islamic history. Does it ring a bell? Try to see it from a Sikh perspective and ask yourself: Have we fallen into the same trap?

If you don't understand Urdu, or can't relate to what is being said, please don't bother posting and carry on in some other thread.

Thanks

This guy very beautifully captured the situation in Pakistan but there are a lot of salient points for us although we as a kaum have not been totally unproductive in the education, sciences etc

1. don't rely on the great deeds of the ancestors to bolster our current image, use it as fuel for finding chinks and weaknesses in our character and rehit and make new missals of greatness in the current time for the kaum.

2. Remember he who conquers rewrites the history or obliterates the evidence of the conquered's greatness... watch your back and protect your dharmic asthaans, ithihaas... follow the old ways learn as much bani as you can , do vichar , share don't lose it

3. Anyone who blindly ignores the rotten apples in the kaum barrel is just as culpable , maybe even more so than those panth dokhis

4. anyone who says nothing is wrong with us so why change....needs to be dragged to the nearest trustworthy history books and rehitnamey and educated as to what a sikh should be

5. why did we allow the dhils in terminology if you not rehitvaan, monay and eat maas, drink alcohol etc you are not SEHAJDHARI....SEHAJDHARI is one who has kept his kesh and doing bani and leaving all the gandh behind to become khalsa...if you have no intention to then you can't claim it, simple.

6. We need to reinstate dastars for all amritdhari at akal takht this is the correct rehit , the time for the temporary relaxation is over it didn't work.

[hsingh8963]

The last Jathedar chosen by Sarbat Khalsa was Bhai Ranjit Singh Ji who killed Narakdhari Gurbachana right?

[Mehtab Singh]

I am glad bhenji you got it.

[Akal Warrior]

I am curious about the procedure. Is there some sort of Gurmata passed, or is there a minimum qualification required? Who chooses the Jathedar? What credentials are kept in mind when choosing? Who has the authority to choose? Etc. etc.

Please share if you are aware

Thanks

I too am curious about this. It seems we are a very desi community that makes strange decisions. For example, what qualifications did Jathedar Ranjit Singh Ji have? Is the only reason he became Jathedar because he assassinated the Niranakri leader? That makes no sense at all. Same applies for people requesting Rajoana to be Jathedar...this is why we're so behind. Desi mentality.

I think Badal calls the shots these days... But here's another way to look at things: what if Jathedar Gurbachan Singh is actually a good person and is trying his hardest to do well, given the current scenario in the Panth. Maybe he knows that if he speaks up against Badal, he will get replaced by one of Badal's men, who could do a lot of damage to the Panth. Maybe his hands are tied and he knows that things could be worse if someone replaces him. I have met Jathedar Ji many years ago and he seemed like a very knowledgeable and Panthic person. (but that's just based on a short conversation)

I also don't agree with Bhai Gurbaksh Singh always blaming the Jathedar for the Singhs not coming out of jail. Does the Jathedar hold the jail keys? Maybe he tried and the government gave a flat out "no". How's that his fault? Maybe he fears that if he speaks up, he will get replaced by an anti Panthic person? Our people are known for making quick and emotional decisions without putting much thought into it. For example, the Canadian and USA sangat decided that whichever kathavachak, kirtani etc doesn't visit Bhai Gurbaksh Singh Ji will not be able to do parchar in Canada and USA. For the next few days people started flooding Amb sahib. All the parcharaks who had not come for the first month suddenly dropped everything to rush there to make sure they can come to Canada. THAT is Desi mentality. What if a kathavachak couldn't come because they are caring for a sick family member? What if they don't agree with hunger strikes? What if they are travelling to other parts of Punjab to do parchar? This is the kind of thinking that is hurting us so badly as a kaum. We don't use out minds. We just get emotional and start making noise. Whether it's choosing our leaders, putting up marble Gurdwaras over our history, or beating up pakhandi babay... We are just so Desi. I think we will progress when we are ready to put our heads together and actually make well thought out decisions. Buy that doesn't seem like it's happening anywhere.

[jkvlondon]

I too am curious about this. It seems we are a very desi community that makes strange decisions. For example, what qualifications did Jathedar Ranjit Singh Ji have? Is the only reason he became Jathedar because he assassinated the Niranakri leader? That makes no sense at all. Same applies for people requesting Rajoana to be Jathedar...this is why we're so behind. Desi mentality.

No, this is not the way to look at it....these two gursikhs did not stand for either injustice or insult to our Guru that is the kind of Calibre of Gursikh we Should have as caretaker of our political throne. They put their Guru's bachan and kaum ahead of self-interest. Next you'll be suggesting people shouldn't acknowledge Sant ji because of DESI mentality...please measure by Guru's definition of what a sikh should be.

I think Badal calls the shots these days... But here's another way to look at things: what if Jathedar Gurbachan Singh is actually a good person and is trying his hardest to do well, given the current scenario in the Panth. Maybe he knows that if he speaks up against Badal, he will get replaced by one of Badal's men, who could do a lot of damage to the Panth. Maybe his hands are tied and he knows that things could be worse if someone replaces him. I have met Jathedar Ji many years ago and he seemed like a very knowledgeable and Panthic person. (but that's just based on a short conversation)

He knows that he cannot issue hukamnamey to the panth without sarbat khalsa, and he should never bow to political machinations of individuals, the last jathedar was removed wasn't he because he spoke his mind ? so maybe this Gurbachan Singh is already Badal's man

I also don't agree with Bhai Gurbaksh Singh always blaming the Jathedar for the Singhs not coming out of jail. Does the Jathedar hold the jail keys? Maybe he tried and the government gave a flat out "no". How's that his fault? Maybe he fears that if he speaks up, he will get replaced by an anti Panthic person? Our people are known for making quick and emotional decisions without putting much thought into it. For example, the Canadian and USA sangat decided that whichever kathavachak, kirtani etc doesn't visit Bhai Gurbaksh Singh Ji will not be able to do parchar in Canada and USA. For the next few days people started flooding Amb sahib. All the parcharaks who had not come for the first month suddenly dropped everything to rush there to make sure they can come to Canada. THAT is Desi mentality. What if a kathavachak couldn't come because they are caring for a sick family member? What if they don't agree with hunger strikes? What if they are travelling to other parts of Punjab to do parchar? This is the kind of thinking that is hurting us so badly as a kaum. We don't use out minds. We just get emotional and start making noise. Whether it's choosing our leaders, putting up marble Gurdwaras over our history, or beating up pakhandi babay... We are just so Desi. I think we will progress when we are ready to put our heads together and actually make well thought out decisions. Buy that doesn't seem like it's happen

ing anywhere.

Bhai Gurbaksh Singh knows these guys of the SGPC and Dal very very well they interfered with his last strike and again tried to do the same this time . He has every right to question why Jathedar has not created a chetna to world sangat to get behind the demand for the release of our Brothers who have done their time, everyone has that right as a part of the Kaum.

I cannot speak for the paise/fame hungry, if you are only visiting because of your wallet then that says a lot about what importance you hold your suffering Sikh brothers and sisters and just how much lack you have in the basic level of courage, compassion and love for truth. As for those in far away lands look at the kamai, rehit and jiwani of a gursikh before giving any kind of special treatment. Sikhi has become an exercise in eyewashing for the masses, it needs to crack down hard on surplus expenditure on building projects and invest in the calibre of SIkhs, creating future millions of well-educated Gursikhs in all fields of endeavour.

[Cisco_Singh]

Not true traditionally akal takht jathedars were the same as the jathedars of Budha Dal I e: the same person. This tradition was broken by the Singh Sabhas with british support after the second Anglo Sikh wars spgc was formed in effect they sold out to the enemy...

[JSinghnz]

Not true traditionally akal takht jathedars were the same as the jathedars of Budha Dal I e: the same person. This tradition was broken by the Singh Sabhas with british support after the second Anglo Sikh wars spgc was formed in effect they sold out to the enemy...

Who told you that the SGPC sold out to the enemy?

Would you have preferred Mahants continue to control our Gurudwaras rather than SGPC?

[Cisco_Singh]

Who told you that the SGPC sold out to the enemy?

Would you have preferred Mahants continue to control our Gurudwaras rather than SGPC?

SGPC may as well be mahants, they are basically indian government puppets in the guise of Sikhs used as puppets to control the Sikh populace. Removal of Mahants was a good thing but the whole concept of SGPC ws highly flawed, it was a tool used byn the british to push a certain brand of Sikhi that was devoid of any self determination and subversant.

Under SGPC Dasam Granth was removed from it's historical location at Harmandar Sahib, The European Harmonium/Vaaja was installed as the main Kirtan instrunment to make kirtan closer to church choir music, SGPC's structure was such that it was directly under government control.

Jathedari of Akal Takht was removed from the traditional Khalsa fauj (Budha Dal) and put under the control of SGPC etc etc. So yes this was a sell outm a carefully planned controlled manouver by the British that was later taken over by the Indian Government.

[JSinghnz]

SGPC may as well be mahants, they are basically indian government puppets in the guise of Sikhs used as puppets to control the Sikh populace. Removal of Mahants was a good thing but the whole concept of SGPC ws highly flawed, it was a tool used byn the british to push a certain brand of Sikhi that was devoid of any self determination and subversant.

Under SGPC Dasam Granth was removed from it's historical location at Harmandar Sahib, The European Harmonium/Vaaja was installed as the main Kirtan instrunment to make kirtan closer to church choir music, SGPC's structure was such that it was directly under government control.

Jathedari of Akal Takht was removed from the traditional Khalsa fauj (Budha Dal) and put under the control of SGPC etc etc. So yes this was a sell outm a carefully planned controlled manouver by the British that was later taken over by the Indian Government.

So easy to find faults and there is no talk whatsover about the positive aspects of the Singh Sabha movemnent and

the formation of SGPC. Read the history of how the formation of SGPC was a great victory for the Sikhs against the British.

[JSinghnz]

I too am curious about this. It seems we are a very desi community that makes strange decisions. For example, what qualifications did Jathedar Ranjit Singh Ji have? Is the only reason he became Jathedar because he assassinated the Niranakri leader? That makes no sense at all. Same applies for people requesting Rajoana to be Jathedar...this is why we're so behind. Desi mentality.

I think Badal calls the shots these days... But here's another way to look at things: what if Jathedar Gurbachan Singh is actually a good person and is trying his hardest to do well, given the current scenario in the Panth. Maybe he knows that if he speaks up against Badal, he will get replaced by one of Badal's men, who could do a lot of damage to the Panth. Maybe his hands are tied and he knows that things could be worse if someone replaces him. I have met Jathedar Ji many years ago and he seemed like a very knowledgeable and Panthic person. (but that's just based on a short conversation)

I also don't agree with Bhai Gurbaksh Singh always blaming the Jathedar for the Singhs not coming out of jail. Does the Jathedar hold the jail keys? Maybe he tried and the government gave a flat out "no". How's that his fault? Maybe he fears that if he speaks up, he will get replaced by an anti Panthic person? Our people are known for making quick and emotional decisions without putting much thought into it. For example, the Canadian and USA sangat decided that whichever kathavachak, kirtani etc doesn't visit Bhai Gurbaksh Singh Ji will not be able to do parchar in Canada and USA. For the next few days people started flooding Amb sahib. All the parcharaks who had not come for the first month suddenly dropped everything to rush there to make sure they can come to Canada. THAT is Desi mentality. What if a kathavachak couldn't come because they are caring for a sick family member? What if they don't agree with hunger strikes? What if they are travelling to other parts of Punjab to do parchar? This is the kind of thinking that is hurting us so badly as a kaum. We don't use out minds. We just get emotional and start making noise. Whether it's choosing our leaders, putting up marble Gurdwaras over our history, or beating up pakhandi babay... We are just so Desi. I think we will progress when we are ready to put our heads together and actually make well thought out decisions. Buy that doesn't seem like it's happening anywhere.

Another feature of us Sikhs today is that we find it so easy to find faults and whinge about it rather than talking about solutions and do something to

fix the faults.