Led by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the state Vidhan Sabha on Tuesday passed the Sikh Gurudwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023 which aims to ensure a free telecast of Gurbani from the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
The Bill removes the need for tenders, aiming to end the monopoly of telecast rights held by a TV channel owned by the Badal family of the Shiromani Akali Dal. For years, the private news-cum-entertainment PTC Network owned by Sukhbir Singh Badal has had the broadcasting rights of Gurbani. The amendment attempts to break its monopoly and will pave the way for eliminating the undue control of preachers (called Masands). The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the apex religious body of the Sikhs, rejected the amendment and President Harjinder Singh Dhami stated that special meetings will be convened on 26th June, where the bill will be officially rejected. The SGPC had earlier shown resentment over the move by the AAP-led Punjab government, saying the 1925 Act is a central legislation and can only be amended by Parliament.
However, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday said the state government was fully competent to amend this Act. He reasoned that the Supreme Court had, on the issue of a separate gurdwara committee for Haryana, ruled that this Act was not an inter-state Act, but a state Act. CM Mann stated on Tuesday that he doubted the Law degree of Harjinder Singh Dhami, claiming that Dhami should know that the state government has the right to amend the Bill. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Manpreet Ayali said Gurbani should be telecasted in a transparent manner and only one channel should not have the exclusive rights. The SGPC should start a channel of its own and give rights, he said. Ayali, however, opposed the Bill as he said the government should not be interfering in SGPC matters. “The SGPC is the apex religious body of the Sikhs and it is also called a ‘mini parliament’ of the Sikhs,” he said. BSP MLA Nachhatar Pal also opposed the Bill, saying before taking such decisions, consultation with religious bodies and others concerned should be held. Wrapping up discussion on the bill at the floor of Punjab Vidhan Sabha, the Chief Minister said that the bill aims at freeing the undue control of a particular family over the rights to telecast sacred Gurbani.
He said that it was a paradoxical situation that SGPC under the influence of a family that controls its affairs, had given intellectual property rights of telecasting the sacred Gurbani to a channel owned by them. Bhagwant Mann questioned how these rights of Gurbani which is repository of knowledge and faith can be given to any channel. The Chief Minister said that the bill is in no way interference in religious affairs, rather it is a simple step to ensure that Gurbani reaches every household. He said that in the Sikh Gurudwaras Act, 1925, after section 125, section 125-A will be inserted for live telecast of Gurbani free of cost. Bhagwant Mann said that the Act stipulates that it will be the duty of the Board (SGPC) to propagate the teachings of the Gurus by making uninterrupted (without any on screen running advertisements/ commercials/ distortion) live feed (Audio or Audio as well as Video) of Holy Gurbani from Sri Harmandir Sahib available free of cost to all media houses, outlets, platforms, channels etc. whoever wishes to broadcast it.
The Chief Minister asserted that the state government is fully competent to amend this act as the Apex court had already through a judgment ruled that this act is not an interstate Act. He said that a single family had dominated in the affairs of the SGPC since long due to which an irreparable damage had been made to the Sikh panth.
Bhagwant Mann said that playing a dirty game this family tried to encash the religious sentiments of Sikhs by giving exclusive rights of telecast of Gurbani to their blue eyed channel whereas no mention of word telecast or broadcast was there in the Act.
