Uphill task ahead for jathedar

Giani Gargaj's hasty installation amid Nihangs' protest call sparks row; later, he also assumes charge as acting jathedar of Akal Takht

- Gurpreet Singh Nibber

AMRITSAR: After nihang outfits threatened to disrupt the ceremony and Sikh organisations decided to boycott it, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) installed Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj, 40, as the jathedar of Takht Kesgarh Sahib in Anandpur Sahib in the presence of the 'Panj Pyare (five beloved ones of the Guru)' of the Akal Takht at 2:45am, seven hours before schedule, on Monday.

In the afternoon, he also took additional charge as acting jathedar of Akal Takht in Amritsar without any ceremony, for the first time in history, amid the row over the removal of previous jathedars by the SGPC.

At Takht Kesgarh Sahib, the ceremony was to be held at 10am on Monday and invites had been sent to Sikh organisations, sects and seminaries. However, after the controversial removal of Giani Raghbir Singh as the Akal Takht jathedar and Giani Sultan Singh as Takht Kesgarh Sahib jathedar on March 7, Shiromani Panth Akali Budha Dal chief Baba Balbir Singh on behalf all major nihang outfits, including Dal Panth Baba Bidhi Chand Sursingh, Misl Shaheedan Tarna Dal Baba Bakala, Tarn Dal Harya Belan and Dashmesh Tarna Dal, threatened to disrupt the installation ceremony.

The nihangs had started gathering at Anandpur Sahib in Rupnagar from Sunday evening to scuttle the ceremony, leaving the SGPC in a fix as the jathedar's installation was necessary before the Hola Mohalla festival that formally started at midnight. Several Sikh organisations, including the Damdami Taksal, Kar Sewa groups and the Takht Patna Sahib managing committee, announced a boycott of the ceremony and maintained that they will not accept new jathedars.

The SGPC officials secretly brought the newly appointed jathedar to Takht Kesgarh Sahib at around 2.40am and made him assume charge, cancelling the ceremony that normally sees a big panthic (Sikh community) gathering.