The Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs, has ordered the Punjab Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains to serve tankhah (religious penance) over the breach of the Sikh code of conduct (maryada) during a commemorative event. The incident that occurred last month, when the martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur was being honored, caused a stir as the musical performance, which was inappropriate as per the occasion, was held.
As part of the penance he has been ordered to pay by the five Sikh high priests, including the Akal Takht jathedar in Amritsar, Bains will go around in community service (seva) such as cleaning shoes, sweeping roads, among other voluntary work in two major gurdwaras in Delhi commemorating the martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur. Bains has officially posted a notice about his folly and accepted the penalty, and also has apologized on behalf of the Punjab AAP government.
The Akal Takht stressed that government-arranged functions to celebrate Sikh gurus in the future must be within purely religious parameters. It indicated that the state should liaise with the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), Dharam Parchar Committee, so as to maintain orderly behaviour. The order follows the current tussle between the Punjab government and the SGPC over conducting festivals to commemorate the 350th martyrdom anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur that will culminate in November.
Previously, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had raised the question of whether religious commemoration was under the SGPC control after the organization took objections to individual state-level celebrations. In the meantime, the singer whose song started the row, Bir Singh, had already apologized to the clergy.
This recent incident reinforces the fact that the matter of religious activities in Punjab is highly sensitive, and it is good to have the Sikh activities being maintained, most importantly, during the momentous events of the celebration of exemplary personalities like Guru Tegh Bahadur.
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