Akal Takht Summons Punjab Minister, Dept Head Over Dance At Guru's Martyrdom Event

Chandigarh: A day after it condemned the song and dance event at the recent Guru Teg Bahadur’s martyrdom function in Srinagar, Akal Takht, the supreme temporal seat of Sikhs, on Saturday summoned the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) language department minister and department head, whose department organised the programme.

The Akal Takht officiating Jathedar Kuldeep Singh Gargaj summoned - to appear and explain before the five Singh Sahiban (Sikh clergy) on August 1 - the education minister Harjot Singh Bains and the language department director, Jaswant Singh Zafar, whose department organised the said event held in Srinagar, J & K, on July 24 last, to mark the 350th martyrdom anniversary of Guru Teg Bahadur.

It may be recalled that a video of the said event has gone viral which purportedly showed singer Bir Singh performing on stage and the members of the audience dancing on the same, drawing the ire of the Sikh organisations who stated that the same turned a solemn event into an entertainment affair by the government.

MINISTER, SINGER APOLOGISE

However, while Bir Singh tendered his apology on Friday itself, Bains posted on Saturday his apology on X: "As a Sikh and a cabinet minister, I seek forgiveness for whatever happened during the event due to an unintentional oversight by the organisers …. I have been summoned by Akal Takht in this regard …I will present myself barefooted at Akal Takht and acknowledge my moral responsibility, and will be bound to obey every forthcoming command’’, he said.

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Meanwhile, slamming AAP government, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami said that due to the government’s lack of understanding and sensitivity towards religious matters, and its insistence on conducting such programs unilaterally, the sanctity of Guru’s supreme sacrifice has been compromised.

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Meanwhile, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Badal on Saturday said that the AAP government has committed an act of grave sacrilege against Sikh religion by trying shamelessly to convert the solemn occasion of the anniversary of the supreme martyrdom of Shri Guru Tegh Bahadur sahib into an “entertainment event” at Srinagar the other day.

Iqbal Singh Lalpura, a BJP leader and chairman National Commission for Minorities. also expressed deep anguish in the context and said that it is utterly shameful that during the solemn event in Srinagar, entertainment in the form of Bhangra, songs, and dance was allowed.