AMRITSAR: With egg on its face, the SGPC on Sunday finally decided to withdraw its controversial affidavit in the Punjab and Haryana High Court that had given a highly objectionable definition of Sehajdhari Sikh and will submit a new affidavit now that will make it clear that anyone who cuts, trims or shaves his hair cannot be a Sehajdhari Sikh.
The SGPC executive which met here at the Guru Nanak Niwas was convened to discuss the issue after a whole range of Panthic organizations including Akali Dal (Panch Pardhani), Shiromani Khalsa Panchayat, Sant Samaj, Damdami Taksal, Chief Khalsa Diwan, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, American Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, Sikh Youth of America, and many others took strong exception to the SGPC overturning its own resolutions and ignoring the unanimous Panthic view on Sehajdhari Sikh definition.
Its affidavit in the High Court virtually enables anyone to call himself a Sehajdhari Sikh, continue to cut/shave/trim his/her hair for an indefinite period and put a bar on cutting hair only when someone decided to become a Keshadhari Sikh.
The World Sikh News, which broke the story and then lead the coverage as well as the campaign from the front, received thousands of responses from Sikhs and even non-Sikhs from across the world on the issue. The huge response also led to an online petition on the issue to force the SGPC to hold back and withdraw the impugned affidavit. The petition will continue till this subject is concluded affirmatively on the side of Sikh interests. WSN will bring out the role played by different dramatis personae in the coming days.
Sunday's meeting, chaired by its president Avtar Singh Makkar, did a re-think and decided that it was wrong to tamper with the unanimous view and resolution of the expert committee that had defined the Sehajdhari Sikh in keeping with the Panthic view. The seven-member panel of experts had given its view which was tinkered with and distorted by vested interests and an affidavit was filed that totally overturned the experts' view.
Punjab Advocate General H S Mattewal and Sikh History Research Board chairman Anurag Singh were seen as the key people behind submitting the corrupted version of the definition. Anurag Singh was one of the seven experts and the only one who had refused to sign the collectively passed resolution of the expert panel.
Earlier, SGPC top brass, including its president Makkar, had resorted to brash talk and blatant obfuscation but the strong challenge faced by Makkar on his US visit coupled with the seven-day deadline set by the Sant Samaj and Damdami Taksal to withdraw the affidavit or face them in the court seemed to have hammered the message home.
Within days of the World Sikh News breaking the story and exposing the sinister attempt by forces within the Akali Dal and SGPC of corrupting the definition of Sehajdhari, Panthic organizations had been spitting fire and were in rage over the seemingly RSS influence on Sikh affairs under the current dispensation.
In San Jose, Makkar got caught in a cleft-stick of arguments marshaled by the Bay Area Sikh leaders, and when Jasjeet Singh read out some objectionable aspects of the Sehajdhari definition, Makkar admitted that he was clueless and will have to apprise himself of the facts. On his return, he seemed to have contacted some Sikh experts, including those who were part of the decision making on the Sehajdhari issue.
Many Sikh holy men were now planning to bring thousands of Sikh followers to the High Court on the next date of hearing on January 16, a situation which would have clearly depicted the SGPC and the Parkash Singh Badal-Sukhbir Singh Badal led party as virtually being on the other side and acting as stooges of the BJP-RSS.
Most of the seven experts had dissociated themselves from the affidavit. Even SGPC general secretary Sukhdev Singh Bhaur has admitted that the affidavit was wrong. Kiranjot Kaur, SGPC member and a member of the expert panel, has also condemned the definition as had Gurcharanjit Singh Lamba, community affairs expert and member of the SGPC-appointed panel. Suba Singh, principal of Shaheed Sikh Missionary College, Amritsar is also unhappy with the definition. Lamba was one of the most proactive in leading the campaign against the affidavit.
The American Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (AGPC) had also decided to challenge the stance of the SGPC in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Akali Dal (Panch Pardhani) leadership including Bhai Daljit Singh Bittu, Harpal Singh Cheema and others had condemned the affidavit.
A three member committee which will probe and fix responsibility for filing the earlier affidavit against the advice of Sikhism experts has been formed. The panel will comprise of Raghujit Singh Virk, Kewal Singh Badal and Rajinder Singh Mehta.