No ‘Sarbat Khalsa’, jathedar announces three-day congregation on Baisakhi

Akal Takht jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh on Thursday ended the possibility of calling ‘Sarbat Khalsa’ on the appeal of fugitive Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh by announcing a three-day annual congregation at Takht Damdama Sahib, Talwandi Sabo, to celebrate the festival of Baisakhi.

The last line of the Jathedar’s statement, which was mainly on the gathering of scribes on April 7, has appealed to the community to gather in maximum numbers for the three-day congregation and makes no mention of ‘Sarbat Khalsa’.

The call for the annual congregation comes days after fugitive Waris Punjab De (WPD) chief Amritpal Singh appealed for a ‘Sarbat Khalsa’ to discuss Sikh issues.

“There is a marked difference in annual congregation and ‘Sarbat Khalsa’. This is a gathering to mark Baisakhi,” an official, who did not wish to be named, said.

In his two video messages that surfaced on social media, Amritpal Singh had appealed to the Akal Takht jathedar to call ‘Sarbat Khalsa’ and also to take out “Khalsa Vahir” (religious procession) from the Akal Takht in Amritsar to the Damdama Sahib in Bathinda and hold the congregation there on Baisakhi.

“If we are going to play politics even today, doing the same things we used to do earlier, then what’s the point of being a jathedar in the future. We should understand that today is the time for the entire community to come together,” Amritpal had said in his video messages in Punjabi.

Since Amritpal messages went viral online, the jathedar has refrained from reacting to the appeal made by Amritpal, who has been on the run since March 18 when the police crackdown started against him and his outfit. This is the first official statement from the jathedar.

“Three-day congregation will be organised from April 12 to 14. The community should mark their presence on the occasion in maximum number,” the last line of the statement issued for the scribes gathering, released on Thursday, said.