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SGPC chief postpones crucial meet

Onkar Singh in Amritsar

A crucial meeting of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee scheduled for Thursday was called off today by the SGPC chief, Bibi Jagir Kaur. The meeting will now be held on March 23.

Seven SGPC members, including those excommunicated by the Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Puran Singh on March 12, met Jagir Kaur at her residence in Chandigarh on Wednesday and advised her against holding the meeting.

Sources said Bibi Jagir Kaur would have gone ahead with the meeting, if Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal, who also heads the Akali Dal, had not directed her to desist from taking a defiant stand against the Takht.

Giani Puran Singh and Bibi Jagir Kaur are locked in bitter battle over the implementation of new radical Nanakshahi calendar. Bibi Jagir Kaur, who wants the new calendar introduced, was recently ex-communicated from the panth for disagreeing with the Akal Takht.

Giani Puran Singh, after the failure of a patch-up attempt earlier on March 12, when the SGPC chief offered prayers at the Akal Takht and came back without meeting the Giani, had directed the Akali Dal chief to appoint a new SGPC chief.

During the March 12 confrontation, Bibi Jagir Kaur was accompanied five prominent religious functionaries - Prof Manjit Singh, jathedar of the Kesgarh Sahib; Gaini Kewal Singh, jathedar of the Takhat Damdama Sahib; Bhai Bhagwan Singh, head granthi of the Golden Temple; Pritam Singh Bhatia; and an advocate Jaswinder Singh.

All five have since been ex-communicated by the Akal Takht.

Chief Minister Badal, meanwhile, is not willing stick his neck out by either siding with the SGPC or the Akal Takht. He has been trying to find the common ground between the two, and has thus far been unsucessful.

When cornered by newsmen, Badal said he would not like to further complicate the matter. "I will do everything to ensure that things are sorted out as soon as possible," he said.

With Holla Mohalla festival round the corner, Akal Takht wants a new jathedar for Keshgarh Sahib appointed. Bibi Jagir Kaur, however, wants Professor Manjit Singh, the ex-communicated jathedar, to go ahead with the celebrations.

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