Chandigarh: The ‘acting parallel’ jathedar (head priest) of the Akal Takth (the highest temporal body of the Sikhs located in Amritsar’s Golden Temple), Dhian Singh Mand, declared former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh a ‘tankhaiya’ (guilty of religious misconduct) Sunday.
Amarinder has been held guilty of giving “false assurances” as chief minister to the Bargari Morcha protesters, convincing them to end the protest.
The Bargari Morcha was a 193-day long sit-in protest organised by Sikh bodies in 2018 when Amarinder was the chief minister of Punjab. Called the “insaaf morcha”, the sit-in had been organised at the Bargari village in Faridkot district. The protesters had been demanding the arrest of those responsible for the desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib in 2015. One such incident had taken place in Bargari.
The protest was led by Mand and it ended in December 2018 following assurance of action given by Amarinder.
The others involved in the talks with the protesters included deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa (then cabinet minister), cabinet minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa and MLAs Kulbir Zira, Kushaldeep Singh Kikki Dhillon and Harminder Singh Gill.
Though being declared a tankhaiya is a “serious issue” among the Sikhs, according to experts, in the case of Amarinder Singh, the declaration has been made by a ‘parallel’ jathedar — which means his own authority as jathedar is contentious.
Mand was installed as jathedar of the Akal Takht during a Sarbat Khalsa, a general body congregation of Sikhs held at Amritsar in November 2015, in the wake of the incidents of desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib.
The Sarbat Khalsa had turned into an event led by radical Sikhs. Among the resolutions passed by it was the installation of Jagtar Singh Hawara, convicted for the assassination of former CM Beant Singh, as jathedar of the Akal Takht. Since Hawara is currently in prison, Mand was declared ‘acting’ jathedar. Two Sikh preachers Amrik Singh Ajnala and Baljit Singh Daduwal were also appointed as jathedars of Takht Keshgarh Sahib and Takht Damdama Sahib respectively, but they have since resigned from their posts.
Hawara was the Sarbat Khalsa’s replacement for the then Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC)-appointed Akal Takth jathedar, Giani Gurbachan Singh. In October 2018, after Giani Gurbachan Singh resigned from the post citing ill health, the SGPC appointed Giani Harpreet Singh as acting jathedar. Since the SGPC is the official body entrusted with the responsibility of appointing jathedars for the Akal Takht, the appointments of both Hawara and Mand are contentious, and Mand has been referred to as ‘parallel’ jathedar since.
Jaspal Singh, personal assistant to jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh told ThePrint that the parallel jathedars have no sanction or authority to make any announcement from the precincts of the Akal Takth. “They hold their meeting outside and not inside the Akal Takth. They can, like any other Sikh, come and bow their heads at the Akal Takth, but are not allowed to use it for any other activity.”
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‘Amarinder cannot address gatherings’
According to Sikh traditions, a Sikh declared “tankhaiya” by the Akal Takth is a “sinner” of the Sikh community and has to undergo atonement (tankha) decided by the Akal Takth.
In order to accept the punishment, the tankhaiya has to present himself before the Akal Takht and seek forgiveness. Once the tankha or punishment is completed, the tankhaiya is forgiven. In case the tankhaiya does not undergo this punishment, he faces the possibility of excommunication from the Sikh community.
From the time a Sikh is declared tankhaiya till he is granted atonement the tankhaiya is considered a sinner.
“Amarinder Singh conspired to end the morcha. He will not be allowed to address gatherings in gurdwaras or otherwise. He should not be offered any cooperation or rewarded in any way by Sikhs,” Mand had said Sunday, making the announcement from the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar.
Mand added that the former CM had been called to the Akal Takht to explain his conduct several times. “On Sunday, a last chance had been granted to him, but he did not present himself before the Akal Takht. Now it has been decided to declare him a tankhaiya,” he said.
Mand also said that the Akal Takth had summoned cabinet ministers Randhawa and Bajwa and MLAs Dhillon, Gill and Zira and they have witnessed that Amarinder was solely responsible for this decision.
The former Punjab CM’s cabinet colleagues, Randhawa and Bajwa, were among those in the Congress who had led the protest against him before he was removed as chief minister in September this year. Amarinder has since launched his own political party, the Punjab Lok Congress and is expected to have a pre-poll seat sharing tie-up with the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt) in the upcoming 2022 assembly elections in the state.
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Limited impact: experts
Experts feel, however, that coming from Mand — an ‘acting’ parallel jathedar — the impact of the declaration will be limited.
“To answer this question (whether the former CM need to worry about being declared a tankhaiya and will it have any impact on his being able to campaign) one needs to understand the concept of a tankhaiya and the idea of a ‘parallel jathedar’,” said Professor Sarchand Singh, former president of the Sikh Federation and spokesperson of the Damdami Taksal, the Sikh seminary considered to be the keeper of pure Sikh traditions.
“Loosely defined any Sikh who has violated the rehat maryada (Sikh code of conduct) or done anything that is detrimental to the Sikh religion can be declared a tankhaiya. It is a centuries old tradition. The concept is fairly broad and anything that the jathedar of the Akal Takth, along with the other four Singh sahibaan (jathedars of the other four holy takths of Sikhs) finds worth taking note of as a sin, is accepted as a sin committed towards the entire Sikh religion,” said Professor Sarchand Singh.
The punishment is of a religious, humbling nature, like cleaning the premises of the Golden Temple, polishing shoes of gurdwara visitors, washing utensils used in the langar (community kitchen), or helping in the community kitchen.
“The jathedar of the Akal Takth accompanied by the four Singh Sahibaan (jathedars of four holy takths of Sikhism, in addition to the Akal Takth which is the supreme sear of power) alone can declare a person a tankhaiya after following due procedure. Being declared a tankhaiya is a serious matter as ignoring the tankha can lead to the person’s excommunication,” added Professor Sarchand Singh.
A close aide of the former chief minister said, however, that they were “not worried” about him being declared a tankhaiya, because the diktat has been issued by Mand, who is not the authorised jathedar of the Akal Takth and thus has no power to invoke the traditions of the Akal Takth.
Agreeing to Mand’s questionable authority as jathedar, Professor Sarchand Singh said, “Yes, it is true that the jathedar of the Akal Takth is Giani Harpreet Singh, who has been installed by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). Though Giani Harpreet Singh is also an acting jathedar and not a full- fledged one, he draws authority from the SGPC which was created under the Sikh Gurudwaras Act 1925.”
He added: “Giani Harpreet Singh is the legal jathedar and Mand is a jathedar without any legal authority. But there are several Sikhs who accept both jathedars and respect them. Also sacrilege is a very emotional issue per se. Had it been normal times this declaration may not have meant much. But in the time of elections, being declared a tankhaiya by the parallel jathedar over the sacrilege issue can spell trouble for Amarinder.”
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
Corrigendum: This article has been updated to reflect that Professor Sarchand Singh is the former president of the Sikh Federation and not currently holding this position. The error is regretted.
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