SGPC mounts a political attack on Rahul Gandhi, Sikh scholars disapprove, welcome his visit

In a statement, SGPC general secretary Harcharan Singh Grewal said, “Rahul Gandhi’s grandmother had attacked Akal Takht. His father justified the massacre of Sikhs in Delhi by saying that the earth shivers when a big tree falls. There has been no healing touch from anyone. Can we call his visit as repentance? Will he comment on Congress leaders who carried out a massacre against Sikhs and still sit in the Congress party meetings? Priyanka Gandhi went to meet the woman in jail who was involved in killing his father. But they never went to the widow colony in Delhi. Why?”

“There can be no repentance or healing touch until the questions are not answered,” he added.

Sikh scholars, however, said Grewal’s remarks were in bad taste.

Author Ajmer Singh, who has remained very critical of state actions of 1984, said, “We have ideological conflict with Congress. That politics is there. But we must not be cynical. There is also a human factor. Maybe Rahul Gandhi feels remorse for what happened in the past. SGPC shouldn’t have attacked him. It would have been different had he made a political statement. Shiromani Akali Dal had facilitated the visit of BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani and others. Advani had demanded an attack on Darbar Sahib. There are many such fault lines in Akali Dal’s politics on the issue. At least they should not speak when Gandhi has said that his visit is personal. I disapprove of such a statement from SGPC”.

Akali Dal’s Delhi unit president Paramjit Singh Sarna, meanwhile, welcomed Gandhi’s visit and him performing seva. “I welcome his gesture,” said Sarna.

Dr Amarjit Singh, professor at Guru Nanak Dev University, too said SGPC should have avoided making any political attack on Gandhi. “SGPC shouldn’t have made the first statement. Also, there are lessons to learn from Sikh history. Mughal emperor Jahangir was responsible for the execution of Guru Arjan Dev. But Guru Hargobind Sahib later developed a healthy relationship with Jahangir. Also, it is not in Sikh principles to blame someone for the deeds of his parents or family in which he was born,” said Dr. Amarjit Singh.

Prof (Retd) Dr. Gurdarshan Singh Dhillon, who wrote a white paper for SGPC to explain its side in aftermath of 1984, said, “The way Gandhi has conducted himself is extremely good gesture. He has come as a humble person. I have written a book on what his grandmother had done. But Gandhi was a child at that time. After establishing the Sikh kingdom, Maharaja Ranjit Singh never took revenge from those who had committed atrocities on the Sikhs during Mughal and Afghan rules. Sikh rules are based on Guru Granth Sahib. Gandhi has not made any political statement. Everybody, as a devotee, has the right to enjoy the hospitality of that institution of Guru. SGPC should have been humble in this case”.

Grewal, later, said that the media played only one part of his statement. “First, I had said that it is a principle of Sikhi that one who comes to attack is met with arms and one who comes as a humble devotee is met with sweet Parshad. Gandhi has been performing Sewa at Darbar Sahib. No official has disrespected him. There is a section of media that calls Sikhs extremists and separatists. The reaction to Gandhi’s long visit to Darbar Sahib is evidence that Sikhs are not extremists or unreasonable. Sikhs are Nirwair (one with no enmity with anyone.) It has been proved from the visit of Gandhi.”

Meanwhile, at Golden temple, Gandhi sat with women devotees as he peeled vegetables and interacted with them. He served chapattis to the visiting devotees. Later, he partook ‘langar’. In the evening, Gandhi performed ‘seva’ at the ‘joda ghar’ (shoe house).

He had also visited the Golden Temple Monday after arriving in Amritsar and performed ‘seva’ by offering water to devotees, He had listened to the ‘Shabad Kirtan’ and taken part in the traditional ritual of ‘palki seva’.