BANDI CHHOD DIWAS: Police, SGPC on alert as Mand plans to deliver sandesh from Golden Temple

Punjab Police and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) are on alert as Dhian Singh Mand, parallel acting jathedar of the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs, is scheduled to deliver a ‘sandesh’ (message) to the Sikh community from the Golden Temple on the occasion of ‘Bandi Chhod Diwas’ (Diwali) on Sunday.

Police officials, led by additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP-City1) Harjit Singh, on Saturday inspected the security arrangements made in and around the Golden Temple premises to prevent any untoward incident.

SGPC officials have also deployed a large number of task force members to maintain peace and ‘maryada’ (decorum) at the shrine.

As per the tradition, the Akal Takht jathedar delivers the customary address to the devotees on Diwali from Darshani Deori (entrance to the shrine’s sanctum sanctorum).

Since the parallel jathedars were appointed during a Sarbat Khalsa, a grand Sikh congregation at Chabba village in Amritsar in 2015, they have been carrying out activities parallel to the jathedars appointed by the SGPC.

According to intelligence officials, Mand will make all possible efforts to reach the Golden Temple for delivering a message parallel to that of Akal Takht acting jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh.

Jarnail Singh Sakhira, a representative of Mand, said, “Jathedar Mand will read out his sandesh to the Sikh sangat on Sunday evening.”

ADCP Harjit Singh said, “We have made elaborate security arrangements in and around the Golden Temple to meet any untoward incident. Adequate number of security personnel will be deployed on Sunday. No one will be allowed to disrupt peace at the shrine.”

An SGPC official said they have already deployed task force members to maintain ‘maryada’ inside the shrine.

Last year, Mand could not reach the Golden Temple on ‘Bandi Chhod Diwas’ as he was spearheading the Bargari Morcha, which was organised to seek action against the guilty in sacrilege and police firing incidents of October 2015.

In 2017, Mand’s bid to reach the Golden Temple and address the Sikh community was foiled by Punjab Police. Mand had then read out the ‘sandesh’ at Gurdwara Baba Deep Singh Ji Shaheed at Pahuwind village in Tarn Taran district.