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February 15, 1999
ELECTIONS '98
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The Rediff Interview/Bhai Ranjit Singh'When even Maharaja Ranjit Singh accepted the authority of the Akal Takht, how come Badal cannot?'
Assisting and protecting Tohra in his fight against Badal is Akal Takht Jathedar
An incensed Badal, who has majority support in the SGPC executive, suspended Ranjit Singh last Wednesday and installed the new jathedar, Giani Puran Singh, on Monday.
But the ousted jathedar has vowed to fight back. And vehemently supporting him are Tohra and his loyalists and Sikh hardliners in North America, Canada and Europe where he is projected as a fighter and a dedicated Sikh.
The irony is that it was Badal and Tohra -- in an attempt to counter the threat of various militant outfits -- who jointly appointed Ranjit Singh as Akal Takht jathedar when he was languishing in Tihar jail in 1990.
Ranjit Singh has a bloody past. Inspired by militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Ranjit Singh killed on April 20, 1980 Nirankari chief Baba Gurbachan Singh under whom he was working as a carpenter, and surrendered to the police three years later. The Sikh clergy canonised Ranjit Singh for killing "a heretic." Thus in 1990, while he was incarcerated in Tihar, Ranjit Singh was named jathedar.
Ranjit Singh's indulgence in politics and his penchant for issuing hukamnamas frequently has forced many in the community to propose that it is time Sikhism defined the powers of the Akal Takht and SGPC and the jathedar's present-day role.
Some say the Akal Takht jathedar is appointed for a lifetime and can guide and interfere in the community's religious and social affairs. The jathedar can issue edicts, summon Sikhs who he feels are guilty and punish or pardon them.
Ranjit Singh resorted to edicts at the drop of a hat. The most controversial among his hukamnamas was the order disallowing the use of chairs or tables in community kitchens in gurdwaras and decreeing that all weddings should be solemnised in gurdwaras. Liberal Sikhs protested against the edicts Last year, Tara Singh Hayer, a Canada-based Sikh, was excommunicated for opposing the edicts. He was assassinated later.
Ranjit Singh's opponents say the jathedar's traditional power has ceased after the enactment of the All India Gurdwara Act.
Many Sikhs feel the jathedar's office has lost its religious sanctity. The first jathedar -- Bhai Gurdas -- was a poet and scholar who guided affairs of the Akal Takht till 1694. Interestingly, Guru Gobind Singh, who founded the Khalsa in 1699, never visited the Akal Takht in Amristar.
Badal's supporters in the SGPC allege that Ranjit Singh is pro-Khalistan and his only ambition is to revive militancy in Punjab.
But the ousted jathedar vehemently denies the charge. "Badal wants to run the religious affairs of the Akal Takht from the government circuit house. The chief minister is out to defame me and the Sikh religion," Ranjit Singh told Aren't you upset that the Akal Takht is embroiled in a religious-political controversy of this magnitude? It is not me who started the controversy. It is the chief minister of Punjab, Parkash Singh Badal, who has deliberately created this controversy because he wanted to take over the religious affairs of the Sikhs. The misery which Sikhs had to undergo in Punjab for many years, was a direct result of the games played by selfish political leaders like Badal. But Badal and his supporters say you are pro-Khalistan and you are using the highest religious platform for separatist activities. I have never been a supporter of the demand for Khalistan. I have never stated that I am in favour of limiting the future of the Sikh quam (community) within any fixed boundaries. While I do not agree with the demand for Khalistan, I am in favour of maintaining the distinct identity of the Khalsa Panth. What I have been demanding is that the religious, social and constitutional rights of the Sikhs should be recognised just like any other religious community's. What is then the battle -- between Badal on one side and Tohra and you on the other side -- all about? I never wanted to fight the chief minister. But the trouble started when Badal and his supporters started interfering in the affairs of the Akal Takht and the SGPC and superseding my powers and authority as the Akal Takht jathedar. For instance, the chief minister wanted to hold the tercentenary celebrations of the Khalsa Panth as a mere government function. He is organising the tercentenary programmes without consulting me. I opposed it because 300 years of the Khalsa Panth is a historic day for the Sikh community. It cannot be celebrated by mere government entertainment, which is frivolous and ridiculous. Why did not you accept your suspension as the Akal Takht jathedar by the majority of SGPC executive members? The SGPC has no power to suspend the Akal Takht jathedar without the approval of a Sarbat Khalsa (a representative body of the community.) Therefore, Badal's attempts to oust me from the Akal Takht do not have legal and religious validity.
But many believe you were on a collision course with the chief minister and liberal Sikhs by issuing frequent Badal and his men have been protesting against the hukumnamas because through my edicts I held his favourites accountable to the Akal Takht. Badal thinks only sycophantic jathedars are great religious leaders and the Akal Takht cannot summon and punish the ruling party members and the chief minister's proteges. A Sikh, whether in power or not, is a Sikh. When even Maharaja Ranjit Singh always accepted the authority and power of the Akal Takht, how come the chief minister of Punjab cannot abide by the noble traditions kept by the great religious leaders of Sikhism? Don't you think your meddling in politics was also a reason for this present controversy?
Badal has mastered the art of using religious institutions to his advantage. He has destroyed the spirit of sacrifice of the Akali Dal and made the party his personal property. The Badal government has done nothing for the people of Punjab. Does anyone know what is the fate of our genuine demands for Chandigarh, for Punjabi speaking areas and for river waters? The biggest mistake of the Badal government is that Punjab's money deposited in the banks of Punjab are not utilised for the Punjabis. As a responsible religious leader, I am duty-bound to point out these drawbacks to the government. There is nothing wrong in that. Do you think the fight between the religious and political leadership could lead to the revival of militancy in Punjab? I would like to tell my Sikh brethren across the world that there will be no question of revival of terrorism in Punjab. But the political leadership in the state has been creating a spectre of the revival of militancy in an attempt to oust me from the Akal Takht. It is not appropriate for Sikhs now to raise slogans for a separatist state.
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The Akal Takht, the seat of Miri and Piri established in 1605 by Guru Hargobind, is under siege. A fierce religious-political battle to control this supreme spiritual and temporal seat of Sikhism is on between Akali Dal president and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee president Gurcharan Singh Tohra.
I have never aspired for political power and will never meddle in the administration and political affairs of the government. But everyone must understand that the Akal Takht jathedar is a link of trust and honour between the Sikh community and the political leadership. Therefore, I have asked the party in power why it has not kept to the agenda and responsibilities the Akal Dal had promised to the people of Punjab.