AAP does not have right to interfere: Gurudwara body on Gurbani telecast

Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami on Monday condemned Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for stating that the government would amend the Sikh Gurudwaras Act, 1925 to allow the Gurbani- hymns from the Guru Granth Sahib- to be telecast for free from Amritsar’s Harmandir Sahib gurudwara or the Golden Temple.
Since 1998, the Golden Temple has been broadcasting the Gurbani every day in the morning and evening. The PTC Network, which is owned by Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal has held the broadcast rights for the Gurbani since 2007. The network pays the SGPC- which administers the Harmandir Sahib- Rs 2 crore annually for the telecast. The network also broadcasts all the SGPC’s programmes and special events, which costs about Rs 10-12 crore. However, the contract between the network and Gurudwara body expires this July.
Meanwhile, Dhami accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of trying to politicise the matter, adding that the state government has no right to make such changes. “Punjab Government can’t interfere in any manner. They don’t have the right… I urge Bhagwant Mann to not do anything like this,” he said in a press conference. “This is being done for political reasons, for political capital.” The SGPC chief said that amendments to the Act can only be made by Parliament, and a resolution pertaining to a proposed change passed by the Gurudwara body. “They are [doing this] please their political bosses sitting in Delhi. Don’t make this SGPC versus government. We request the government not to interfere, otherwise, they will be responsible for the consequences”. Dhami further added that the CM should instead be concerned about the state’s development and that the SGPC is capable of making its own decisions. The Sikh Gurdwara Act is a piece of legislation passed unanimously by the Punjab legislative council during colonial rule in July 1925 to put an end to tensions within the Sikh community and threatened law and order in the Punjab. The controversy emerged over a reforming movement, organised as Committee of Shrine Management (now the SGPC), that wished to remove hereditary caretakers or mahants from the Sikh gurdwaras, who were allegedly diverting temple revenue for private use.
Meanwhile, the AAP government has stated that telecast rights for the Gurbani should not be based on tenders and that any channel willing to broadcast the hymns should be able to do so. Chief Minister Mann on Sunday tweeted: “With God’s blessings, we are going to make a historic decision tomorrow. According to the demand of all the devotees, we are adding a new clause in the Sikh Gurdwara Act 1925 that the transmission of Gurbani from Harmandir Sahib will be free for all…on 20 June the resolution will come to the Vidhan Sabha.” Both the SAD and Congress have also opposed the move and said that the state is not entitled to make such changes. Former Punjab Education Minister Daljeet Cheema said the move is “unconstitutional and a direct interference” in the religious activities of the Sikh community. “The Sikh Gurdwara Act is under Parliament. The Sikh community has elected the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee by voting to take decisions regarding Guru Ghar under this Act of Parliament,” Daljeet Cheema tweeted. “The Sikh community will never tolerate this being done under the orders of Kejriwal.” Congress leader Sukhpal Khaira also tweeted that as far as his knowledge goes, the Punjab government “cannot tinker or amend or add to the existing Sikh Gurudwara Act 1925 as its a Central Act. I wonder how @BhagwantMann is speaking to add a clause in the said Act.”