Giani Harpreet Singh: The surprise Jathedar who won hearts, friends with his flexibility

The 48-year-old Jathedar was also attacked by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann — a rare attack by a CM on the Akal Takht head — for seeking the release of hundreds held in the course of the Amritpal chase.

During the farm laws standoff between the Akali Dal and the BJP at the Centre too, Giani Harpreet had held his own counsel. While the Akali Dal broke off its long ties with the BJP on the matter, the Jathedar was among those who congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for withdrawing the laws eventually.

“We were worried there were some groups in the (anti-farm laws) agitation who were trying to distance themselves from Sikh philosophy, tradition, history, sentiment and tradition. There were also groups that attempted to portray the agitation as Sikhs vs the Indian government and Sikhs vs Hindus. This could have had serious implications on the Sikh community… I thank the Indian government and PM Modi for neutralising a potentially big crisis,” he had said.

This was exactly a year after Giani Harpreet had targeted the BJP while speaking on the occasion of the 100th foundation day of the SGPC. Without naming the BJP, the Jathedar had said: “It’s not a democratically elected government at the Centre. It’s an EVM-elected government… So it’s a must for us (Sikhs) to unite on one platform by forgetting small differences.”

On the same occasion, he had praised the Akali Dal, asking it to start a journey “from Punjab to Panth”.

Before that, in October 2019, when the BJP and Akali Dal were still allies, Giani Harpreet had reacted sharply to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s statement on Dussehra that India was a “Hindu Rashtra”. The Jathedar had demanded a ban on the RSS, saying its statements “can’t keep the nation together, but divide it”. “The Indian government should rein it in,” he said.

Months earlier, on the anniversary of Operation Blue Star in June 2019, the Jathedar had said: “All Sikhs want Khalistan. If the Indian government gives it, we shall take it… What more can we ask for?”

The turnaround in tone towards the BJP and on the separatism issue after the farm laws agitation was, hence, a significant moment for Giani Harpreet, who was seen as owing his position to the Akali Dal. The Giani even belonged to a Dalit family from Muktsar, the home district of the Badals.

Lately, some Akali Dal leaders, anxious about the Jathedar’s growing prominence, had started accusing him of being close to the BJP. With the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee seen as under the influence of the BJP, the Akali Dal’s Delhi unit president had openly criticised him.

Akali Dal leaders also talk about the fact that Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Giani Harpreet at his office in the Akal Takht last year, and that Union minister and BJP Punjab in-charge Gajendra Singh Shekhawat was known to be in touch with him.

Observers felt that the Giani had proved a fast learner for the simple fact that he was virtually an known, and unencumbered by expectations, when he replaced the unpopular Giani Gurbachan Singh as Jathedar. Giani Harpreet was at the time pursuing a PhD in comparative religion from Punjabi University in Patiala.

This relative anonymity helped the 48-year-old win over the anti-Badal factions within the SGPC, while his outreach towards those jathedars who were appointed by the Sarbat Khalsa and hence were a challenge to his authority as well as that of the SGPC, earned him goodwill.

He also won praise from outside the community by asking Sikhs to help Kashmiri Muslim girls stranded across North India after the abrogation of Article 370 and the tension back home, and again by opposing the CAA for being discriminatory towards Muslims.

Lastly, his strong stance against the farm laws helped him shed the taint the Akali Dal carried due to its association with the BJP when the legislation were framed.

Speaking to The Indian Express before the 2022 Assembly polls, the Jathedar had again delivered a punch when he said he was not hung up on a Sikh becoming the chief minister of Punjab. “Behtar insaan hona chahiye, achchai pehle number pe (The CM should be a good person, that should be the No. 1 consideration). Whether Hindu or Sikh, that is secondary.”

All this, coupled with good oratory skills and knowledge of Sikh history and the Gurbani, had helped Giani Harpreet quickly grow in popularity.

To hold off charges that he had given up on Sikh interests, the Giani had at the same time questioned the “rise” in Muslim population of Punjab, calling it “a serious demographic challenge”, and taken on Christian missionaries for “forced conversions”. But, in what will remain a hallmark of his tenure, the Jathedar put this point across while simultaneously opening negotiations with various Church representatives.

Another impressive reading of the political winds was Giani Harpreet’s meeting with Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad, when he gifted him a book on why Babasaheb Ambedkar didn’t become a Sikh. The Giani also won many hearts by releasing a song of Sidhu Moosewala after his killing.