Cabinet approves amendment to Sikh Gurdwaras Act in Punjab
The CM said this Act will come into effect from the date of its publication in the official gazette.
3 min read
Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann. The Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday approved to amend the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925, and to insert Section 125 A in the Act thereby making it incumbent on the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to ensure free-to-air live telecast of the holy Gurbani from Sri Harmandir Sahib.
Addressing the media after the Cabinet meeting, the CM said that this Act will be called the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Act, 2023, which will pave the way for eliminating the undue control of ‘Modern Day Masands’ over the free-to-air telecast of the sacred Gurbani.
The CM said this Act will come into effect from the date of its publication in the official gazette.
He said that this amendment has been made with the objective that the entire humanity is able to listen to and see the live telecast of Gurbani free of cost.
He said that in the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925, after Section 125, Section 125-A will be inserted for the live telecast of Gurbani free of cost. He said that the Act stipulates that it will be the duty of the SGPC Board 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 Gurbani available free of cost to all media houses, outlets, platforms, channels, whoever wishes to broadcast it.
The CM said that as a humble and devoted Sikh, he is a votary of free-to-air telecast of the Gurbani across the globe. He wondered how this was an attack on panth as he was just opposing the control of a particular channel over the telecast of Gurbani, which is totally unwarranted and unjustified. He said that this move is not aimed at giving rights to any particular channel of government or of any single individual but it is aimed at spreading the message of Gurbani across the globe.
The CM 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 inter-state Act. He said that a single family had dominated the affairs of the SGPC for long due to which an irreparable damage had been made to the Sikh panth.
He said that SGPC, which was constituted by Sikh Gurudwara Act 1925, was entrusted with the task of spreading the message of Gurbani, but it has forgotten its duty while acting as a stooge for their master family.
The CM said 11 years have passed and SGPC elections have not taken place. He said that it is surprising that the acting president of the SGPC is removing the acting Jathedar of Akal Takht just because he is not toeing the line of the master family. He categorically said that the Act is not any attack on panth but it is just a humble effort to ensure free-to-air telecast of sacred Gurbani across the globe.
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