CHANDIGARH: After the Akal Takht held discussions with state ministers and Sikh MLAs across party lines including the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over the anti-sacrilege law, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has now intensified preparations for a community (Panthic) congregation to be held on July 5 in connection with the controversial viral video involving Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
Mann was declared as "Guru Dokhi"’ and "anti-Khalsa Panth" by the Akal Takht, which is the highest temporal body of the Sikhs.
SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami and Takht Sri Damdama Sahib Jathedar Giani Tek Singh met leaders of various Sikh organisations and sects, including Shiromani Panth Akali Budha Dal chief Balbir Singh, Ghala Singh Nanaksar Kaleran, Hakam Singh, Resham Singh Barnala, Jagjit Singh Lopon Wale and several other religious leaders and handed over invitation letters, urging them to participate in the congregation to be held at Gurdwara Manji Sahib Diwan Hall in Amritsar.
While addressing a meeting of Sant Samaj leaders at Gurdwara Nankiana Sahib, stressing the need to identify and collectively confront forces working against Sikh institutions and the Panth, Dhami said that the directives of the Akal Takht were supreme for every Sikh and thus the SGPC was taking it’s directives to every village and household across the state to make the Sikh community aware of the present government’s alleged "anti-Panth" stance.
He said the July 5 congregation had been convened to obtain the collective opinion of the Panth and formulate its future course of action and expressed confidence that the gathering would symbolise Sikh unity and resilience.
Sources said that the discussions were focused on challenges faced by the Panthic institutions, along with other Sikh issues.
It is learnt that the representatives of the Sant Samaj assured the SGPC leadership that they would abide by every directive issued by the Akal Takht.
Also Jathedar Giani Tek Singh appealed to Sikh organisations to mobilise maximum participation from their respective areas and attend the congregation in large numbers.