Bhagwant Mann play over Gurbani telecast row draws Opp fire, heats up panthic politics

Several leaders of the principal Opposition Congress have also criticised Mann’s move, with even a section of critics of the SGPC and the PTC now expressing reservations over the CM’s bid to “meddle” into Sikhs’ religious affairs.

The SGPC, which is said to be controlled by the SAD, has also castigated Mann’s move, although this is not the first time that it has risen in defence of the PTC.

Last month, the CM offered to pay all expenses for broadcasting Gurbani across channels free of cost, questioning why it is being telecast by the Badals’ channel.

Live Gurbani Kirtan was first broadcast on the All India Radio on June 7, 1984, the day after the army concluded the Operation Blue Star. It was one of the demands put forth during the Dharam Yudh Morcha launched in August 1982, but was accepted only after the army action, which caused significant damage to the Akal Takht in the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar.

Since then, live Gurbani Kirtan broadcast on radio has become a key feature of daily life in Punjab. In the case of TV, however, it was private players which started telecasting it in the late 1990s.

“SGPC reached an agreement with UK Khalsa World TV, North Indian TV Ltd, which also ended in September 2000. ETC Network was then given the telecast rights at an annual cost of Rs 2 crore for live streaming. In 1999, ETC channel used to pay Rs 2 crore to SGPC’s educational institution in return for broadcasting Gurbani,” said former SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur in a recent statement.

The SGPC entered into an agreement with G-Next Media Pvt Ltd, the company that owns the PTC, on July 24, 2012, for 11 years, which will expire on July 24, 2023. The company agreed to pay the SGPC only Rs 1 crore annually with a proposal of a 10 per cent annual increase in the fee.

The ETC Punjabi channel lost its shine to the PTC as soon as the Gurbani rights were switched. Since then, the rights have remained with the PTC. The Opposition parties often accuse the SGPC of “favoring” the PTC for exclusive rights. The live telecast of Gurbani allows the PTC channel to reach the Sikh community across the world. Sikhs are the SAD’s core support base.

The SGPC announced the launch of its own TV channel many times since 1999 and also passed resolutions in this regard. However, the Opposition parties have charged that its proposed channel never saw the light of day as it collided with the interest of the PTC, a claim that the SGPC has consistently denied.

Commenting on the Gurbani row, the SGPC’s president Harjinder Singh Dhami recently said it will float open tender to grant the Gurbani telecast right from the Golden Temple upon the expiry of it existing contract.

Close on the heels of the formation of Mann-led AAP government, a case of alleged sexual misconduct was registered against the PTC’s managing director and others on March 17 last year. Following this, former Akal Takht Acting Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh had asked the SGPC to make its own arrangements for the live telecast of the Gurbani. The SGPC, however, deflected it by citing its existing agreement with the PTC. The newly-appointed Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghubir Singh is yet to take a stand on the issue.

On November 10, 2021, then Congress CM Charanjit Singh Channi had said that he would soon meet the Akal Takht Jathedar with a proposal to allow other channels to telecast live Gurbani from Sri Darbar Sahib.

In February 2020, during the then Capt Amarinder Singh-led Congress gvernment, minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa met Giani Harpreet Singh to ask him to end “PTC’s monopoly” over the Gurbani telecast. “I have come to know that the Badal family-owned TV channel pays a negligible amount for the exclusive rights to telecast Gurbani Kirtan. It is not a correct approach of SGPC. Akal Takht Jathedar should ask SGPC to allow all interested TV and radio channels to telecast Gurbani Kirtan,” Bajwa had said after meeting with the Jathedar.

However, the Congress government also could not end the alleged monopoly of PTC, even as Amarinder Singh maintained that he was committed to eliminate the “cable mafia” in the state.

Meanwhile, Dal Khalsa has asked Sukhbir Badal to hand over the PTC’s ownership rights to the SGPC to end the controversy. “Sukhbir has amassed enough wealth courtesy the sole rights of live Gurbani telecast on PTC. Now is the right time for Sukhbir to pay back to Guru’s Sangat. Badals have made SGPC its subservient, thus destroying its credibility and relevance,” it charged.

Congress MLA Sukhpal Khaira targeted CM Mann and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, accusing them of allegedly meddling into the religious affairs of Sikhs. Despite being a critic of the SGPC, Khaira is opposed to the AAP government’s proposal to amend the Sikh Gurdwaras law.