SGPC removes Giani Raghbir Singh as Akal Takht jathedar

The executive committee of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Friday sacked Akal Takht jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh and Takht Kesgarh Sahib jathedar Giani Sultan Singh from their posts and appointed Sikh scholar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj as the new head of Takht Kesgarh Sahib. He will also serve as the acting jathedar of the Akal Takht.

Former SGPC member Baba Tek Singh Dhanuala, who was the Barnala district president of the SAD, has been appointed as jathedar of Takht Damdama Sahib. Giani Raghbir Singh will continue to hold the charge of head granthi’ of the Golden Temple and Giani Sultan Singh will keep serving as granthi of the Golden Temple.

The move comes almost a month after Giani Harpreet Singh was removed as the jathedar of Takht Damdama Sahib. Giani Raghbir Singh had objected to the SGPC’s decision following which Harjinder Singh Dhami resigned as the president of the apex gurdwara body.

With this, all jathedars, who had on December 2 last year pronounced a “hukamnama” (Sikh decree) for the exit of Sukhbir Singh Badal as president of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), have been removed from their posts.

Decree regarding Sukhbir’s removal triggered move

The recent changes in leadership, including removal of the jathedars, are widely seen as the result of ongoing political and religious struggle in the SGPC. The “war of supremacy” escalated after the Akal Takht’s December 2 decree, which had called for Sukhbir Singh Badal’s resignation from his role as president of the Shiromani Akali Dal, citing his moral failure to lead the party. Despite this, the Sukhbir faction proceeded with its own membership drive, which was in direct violation of the Sikh clergy’s directive, leading to further conflict.

In its December 2 decree, the Akal Takht, highest temporal seat of the Sikhs, had also ordered reorganisation of the party and revocation of “Panth Rattan Fakhr-e-Qaum” (pride of the Sikh community) title conferred on party patriarch and five-time Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal.

Decision on Dhami kept pending

“The appointment of the new jathedar of the Akal Takht will be done only after consultations with Sikh institutions, jathebandis and sampradas,” said SGPC senior vice-president Raghujit Singh Virk, who chaired the meeting at the SGPC head office in absence of Harjinder Singh Dhami, who recently resigned from the top post but decision on his resignation was kept pending.

Move invites sharp criticism

The decision, which was not on the meeting agenda, has drawn strong opposition from several quarters. SGPC opposition members, including Jaswant Singh Purain and Paramjit Singh Raipur, revealed to the media that the removal of the jathedars came as a surprise. They claimed the decision was driven by political motivations and expressed concern that the Sukhbir faction of the SAD was removing any leadership that might pose a challenge to their supremacy.

Purain emphasised that the move was a direct attempt to neutralise the jathedars, who had previously supported the December 2 decree that criticised the Sukhbir faction’s role in Sikh governance. He warned that this would have significant consequences for the SGPC and its ability to represent the Sikh community effectively.

Virk, however, defended the decision, stating that the leadership of Giani Raghbir Singh was deemed inadequate for guiding the Panth in the face of contemporary challenges. He claimed that the inconsistencies in Raghbir Singh’s leadership, particularly on critical Panthic issues, led to disappointment among the Sikh community. Virk also stressed that Akal Takht, as the supreme authority in Sikhism, requires clear and unwavering leadership to safeguard Sikh interests, which, in his view, Giani Raghbir Singh had failed to provide.