CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee on Friday appointed Giani Raghbir Singh as the new Jathedar (High Priest) of the Akal Takht (highest temporal seat of Sikhs). He replaces Giani Harpreet Singh who stepped down after a controversy erupted last month over his attending the engagement ceremony of AAP MP Raghav Chadha with Bollywood actor Parineeti Chopra in New Delhi.
The decision to replace Singh was taken at an emergency meeting of the SGPC executive body today at its headquarters at Teja Singh Samundri Hall in the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar.
Harpreet Singh, however, will continue to be the Jathedar of the Takht Damdama Sahib in Bathinda – another temporal seat of Sikhs.
After the executive meeting, SGPC President Harjinder Singh Dhami said that Harpreet Singh, who was the acting Jathedar of the Akal Takht, himself expressed his wish to relinquish the charge.
Harpreet Singh has been the Jathedar of the Akal Takht since 2018.