Amritsar protest today as Damdami Taksal ups ante against SGPC

Once close allies, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Damdami Taksal appear to be on a collision course with the Sikh seminary upping the ante against the SAD-controlled Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) for ‘unceremonious’ removal of Takht jathedars after the December 2 hukamnama (Sikh decree).

The Sikh clergy, in its decree, had pronounced tankah (religious punishment) against Sukhbir Singh Badal and other Akali leaders for the mistakes committed during the party’s government from 2007 to 2017.

The Sikh seminary, once headed by slain militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, is all set to hold a protest outside the SGPC head office in the Golden Temple complex during its budget session on Friday (March 28).

With many Sikh bodies and sects pledging support, Damdami Taksal chief Harnam Singh Dhumma is hoping to gather good numbers to press the SGPC general house to reject executive committee’s resolutions passed to sack three jathedars — Giani Raghbir Singh (Akal Takht), Giani Harpreet Singh (Takht Damdama Sahib) and Giani Sultan Singh (Takht Kesgarh Sahib), who were part of December 2 decree. The other demands include framing norms for the appointment and retirement of the heads of the Sikh temporal seats.

This has widened the rift between the SAD leadership and Taksal, which started taking shape in the last few years especially when Taksal chief backed BJP-backed Akali faction led by Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president Harmeet Singh Kalka in the national capital.

Before the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections, the Taksal chief asked the Sikh community to support the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, a move that drew harsh reactions from the Sikh segments including the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders including spokesperson Parambans Singh Romana and Arshdeep Singh Kler.

“Taksal has always worked for the interests of the Panth. Our aim was to flag the issues of the Sikh society of Maharashtra,” Dhumma said justifying his appeal to support the Mahayuti alliance.

Adding fuel to the fire, Taksal spokesperson Jatinder Singh Khalsa in an interview in January this year, hinted at the possibility of the Sikh seminary’s extending support to BJP in Punjab as well if the saffron party agrees to resolve the Sikh issues including the release of Bandi Singhs (Sikh prisoners).

Taksal, which remained at the centre of Sikh politics during Dharam Yudh Morcha and militancy, has worked closely with SAD in the past. In 2011, Badals-led SAD contested SGPC polls in alliance with Gurmat Sidhant Parcharak Sant Samaj led by Harnam Singh Dhumma. Gurmat Sidhant Parcharak Sant Samaj, comprising heads of various Sikh sects, has been supporting SAD in all the subsequent elections since then. Dhumma backed SGPC and SAD when they faced backlash over the pardon granted to Dera Sirsa head Gurmeet Ram Rahim in a blasphemy case. It also stayed away from the subsequent Sarbat Khalsa (grand Sikh assembly) organised by radical Sikh organizations over the issue.

The move, Prof Amarjit Singh, head of the department of religious studies at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, believes, is an attempt by Taksal to gain lost ground.

“We all know that Taksal no longer wields the same influence in the Sikh Panth as in the past. There is strong resentment among the Panth against the removal of the jathedars. So, it (Taksal) saw the present crisis as an opportunity to revive its lost space in the Sikh religious arena. It is an attempt to improve its image by raising a major Sikh issue”, he said.