Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann under Opposition fire after announcement over free Gurbani telecast rights; Sidhu praises him

BJP national executive member Sunil Jakhar accused the CM of “interfering in religious affairs of Sikhs to settle political scores”

Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann (File Photo)

5 min readChandigarhJun 20, 2023 08:43 AM IST First published on: Jun 19, 2023 at 11:52 AM IST

The Punjab Cabinet approving the amendment to the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925, on Monday to free the live telecast rights of Gurbani from Golden Temple has sparked a political slugfest in the state with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) terming it a direct “government attack” on the Khalsa Panth and Sikh gurdwaras.

The Congress leadership is divided in its reaction, with former Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu hailing Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann for the move, while the party’s Bholath MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira hitting out at the AAP government, calling it a “sad day”.

BJP national executive member Sunil Jakhar accused the CM of “interfering in religious affairs of Sikhs to settle political scores”. Tweeting in Punjabi, Jakhar said, “I am of the view that there should not be monopoly over telecast of Gurbani, but it is highly condemnable the way you are interfering in Sikh religious affairs to settle political scores and I strongly oppose the move to amend Gurdwaras Act (which is not even in the domain of state’s right).”

Punjab BJP president Ashwani Sharma at a press conference in Chandigarh said, “It’s an Act of the Parliament. It sounds hilarious when the AAP government says it will amend it. How can it amend an Act of the Parliament. The government should not enter in religious affairs like this.”

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Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring tweeted in Punjabi on Monday night – that the AAP government was building castles in the air “because to make an amendment to the Act, even the Parliament has to take approval from the SGPC and making amendment to the Act is not in the state’s domain of rights. Due to this SGPC is not bound to honour this decision. SGPC should come up with a YouTube channel to make Gurbani available to everyone.”

On Sunday, SAD spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema in a tweet in Punjabi called Mann’s move as “unconstitutional” and “direct interference in religious affairs of the Sikhs”.

While underlining that “Sikh Gurdwaras Act was under the Parliament”, Cheema said, “Sikh community, through votes under the Act, elected SGPC. Did the above committee pass any resolution to this effect? Without taking SGPC on board, even the Parliament cannot amend the Act. The Sikh community will never tolerate this anti-Panthic move being done on the orders of Kejriwal.”

“Sarb Sanjhi Gurbaani” … means for one and all with no discrimination … this was a cherished desires of millions of sikhs across the globe including me…commendable effort @BhagwantMann … Kudos !!,” Sidhu tweeted on Sunday.

MLA Khaira, in a tweet on Monday, said, “What a sad day for Sikhs as a government of @BhagwantMann consisting of no Amritdhari Sikh (Baptized) and run from Delhi by leaders like @ArvindKejriwal who himself claims to be an ardent follower of RSS ideology will now decide the fate of a martial community of Sikhs and their religious affairs (Sikh Gurudwara Act 1925) that our forefathers achieved after immense bloodshed and glorious sacrifices! I hope sense prevails on this breed of fake revolutionaries!”

In a tweet in Punjabi, SAD president Sukhbir Badal said it was the “first dangerous step towards snatching away the rights of ‘Gurbani parchar’ from the ‘Sikh sangat’ and put the gurdwaras under the government control”.

“This decision has come as a reminiscent of excesses committed by the Mughals, the British and Indira Gandhi, but Khalsa Panth will give a befitting reply to this,” he added. “The announcement made by Bhagwant Mann relating to telecast of Gurbani is not merely a direct attack on gurdwaras of Khalsa Panth, but on Sikh community also.”

Talking to the media, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami said that any amendment to Act can only be done by the Centre through the Parliament as per the recommendations of the General House of the SGPC.

“Such thinking of CM Mann is a big attack on the Sikh organisation. Mann should talk about the development of the state as the CM of Punjab instead of being the subedar of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal,” said Dhami.

He said the Punjab CM instead of misleading the sangat in the matter of Gurbani broadcast, he should pay attention to the maintenance, and cleanliness of the roads and surroundings of Sri Darbar Sahib and increase the facilities of the sangat.