CHANDIGARH: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sardar Sukhbir Singh Badal today called upon Sikhs all over the world to “ recognise, expose and defeat the deep rooted conspiracy to grab control of Sikh religious institutions and to render the Khalsa Panth totally leaderless. “
Addressing a seminar organised by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhik Committee ( SGPC) to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the martyrdom of the ninth Guru Shri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib in New Delhi this morning, Mr Badal said the country desperately needed to follow the footsteps of Guru Sahib and uphold the values of secularism , human rights and civil liberties for which he made an unparalleled and supreme sacrifice . Guru Tegh Bahadur sahib is the only example in the world of a great religious figure sacrificing his life to defend a religion which was not his own. The country needs to follow Guru Sahib as the greatest symbol of religious tolerance and communal harmony. “
Asserting that Guru Sahib stood for secularism and protection of human rights, Mr Badal said these beliefs were also the cornerstone of SAD governments with Sardar Parkash Singh Badal always standing vigil to these values to ensure fifteen clear years of peace and communal harmony in the State during three SAD governments.
Badal warned that the nefarious games being played to weaken the Khalsa Panth as well as Panthic institutions could prove extremely dangerous for peace and communal harmony. “ The Khalsa Panth today is under an unprecedented ideological and political attack. Powerful elements in the country have resorted to the age old strategy of trying to grab control of the three apex religio-political institutions of the Sikhs - Shri Akal Takhat Sahib, SGPC and SAD - by luring opportunistic traitors within the community and sponsoring their vicious social and mainstream media campaigns to defame Akali leadership and mislead the Sikh masses. What we have been witnessing in Punjab in the past nearly 13 years is the unfolding of a conspiracy of misinformation to mislead the community. The aim of these anti Sikh conspirators and their stooges is to deprive Sikhs of their right to serve their holy places through their own democratically elected religious representatives. Their final objective is to dilute and destroy the separate identity of the Khalsa Panth by grabbing control of our sacred historical shrines and to run these as per the designs of the non Sikhs. “
Mr Badal said that these anti Sikh conspiracies have already succeeded in snatching control of our shrines including our sacred Takhats outside Punjab. “ Now, they are eying control of our supreme religious shrine , Harmandar Sahib and Shri Akal Takhat sahib. This is the final assault on the unique ideology and message of the great Guru Sahiban. These conspirators know that they can succeed only by dislodging the elected representatives of the Sikhs and installing their stooges here to control the Sikh religion. They have already succeeded in Delhi , Haryana and Maharashtra where the Sikh shrines are now under the direct control of non Sikh government.”
The seminar also witnessed enlightening addressed by Sri Akal Takhat Jathedar Kuldeep Singh Gargaj, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami, Delhi SAD president Paramjit Singh Singh Sarna and Manjit Singh GK.