SGPC chief courts fresh controversy over Nanakshahi Calendar
Punjab Newsline Network
Tuesday, 03 April 2007
AMRITSAR: Shiromani Gurdawara Parbhandak Committee (SGPC) president Avtar Singh Makkar has courted fresh controversy over Nanakshahi calendar by making unilateral changes in certain dates. His action has evoked sharp criticism from Sikh diaspora around the world.
Makkar has sought the approval of the General House to change the dates of the calendar.
He has proposed to observe the Martyrdom Day of Guru Teg Bahadur on December 15 and the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev on November 24.
Pal Singh Purewal, the author of the Nanakshahi Calendar said it was designed to replace the Hindu Calendar, and has been in use since 1998.
Purewal said: "I am not against any of the amendment, but there are processes available to make such amendments in the Calendar."
He said that it would better if the SGPC refers the issue to the Akal Takhat, the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs, for a final decision, or alternatively, it should be handed over to a eleven-member committee to decide who will approach the Akal Takht for the final decision.
A eleven-member committee was constituted by the Jathedar of the Akal Takht to give final touches to the Nanakshahi Calendar, he added.
Citing an example, he said: "As per the Bikrami Calendar in 1982, the birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh and the martyrdom day of the Shahibzada's falls on the same date (December 22). But no hue and cry was made that time."
If now the Gurpurab of Guru Nanak Birthday and the martyrdom of Guru Teg Bahadur falls on same date (November 24), there is a process to take the issue up and resolve as per the Maryada, he added.
Professor Balwant Singh Dillon, a members of committee, said there is no controversy at all, but just ignorance about the issue which was being exploited by those elements who didn't want a separate Sikh calendar.
The Nanakshahi Calendar was implemented in 1999 by former SGPC chief Professor Kirpal Singh Badunger after the approval of the General House of SGPC. A decision was taken on the basis if recommendations made by the committee. Endorsing Professor Dillon's views, Kawernpal Singh Bittu, another committee member, said Makkar had made amendment related announcement under pressure from right-wingers like the BJP and the RSS.
He said it was the prerogative of the Akal Takht Jathedar to modify the Sikh Calendar. Accusing the SGPC of being in its arbitrary attitude, Harvinder Singh Sarna, former chief of the Delhi Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), said: "We have already written to Akal Takht to look into the matter, but nothing has been done. The SGPC always overlooked the interests of other Sikh bodies, which should not be tolerated."
Dr. Pritpal Singh, the convener of the American Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (AGPC), said, "They strongly condemned and opposed the move of the SGPC chief. This is unacceptable to Sikhs the world over."
He said that SGPC has no authority to alter or modify the calendar. Only the only Akal Takht has that authority.
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Punjab Newsline Network
Tuesday, 03 April 2007
AMRITSAR: Shiromani Gurdawara Parbhandak Committee (SGPC) president Avtar Singh Makkar has courted fresh controversy over Nanakshahi calendar by making unilateral changes in certain dates. His action has evoked sharp criticism from Sikh diaspora around the world.
Makkar has sought the approval of the General House to change the dates of the calendar.
He has proposed to observe the Martyrdom Day of Guru Teg Bahadur on December 15 and the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev on November 24.
Pal Singh Purewal, the author of the Nanakshahi Calendar said it was designed to replace the Hindu Calendar, and has been in use since 1998.
Purewal said: "I am not against any of the amendment, but there are processes available to make such amendments in the Calendar."
He said that it would better if the SGPC refers the issue to the Akal Takhat, the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs, for a final decision, or alternatively, it should be handed over to a eleven-member committee to decide who will approach the Akal Takht for the final decision.
A eleven-member committee was constituted by the Jathedar of the Akal Takht to give final touches to the Nanakshahi Calendar, he added.
Citing an example, he said: "As per the Bikrami Calendar in 1982, the birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh and the martyrdom day of the Shahibzada's falls on the same date (December 22). But no hue and cry was made that time."
If now the Gurpurab of Guru Nanak Birthday and the martyrdom of Guru Teg Bahadur falls on same date (November 24), there is a process to take the issue up and resolve as per the Maryada, he added.
Professor Balwant Singh Dillon, a members of committee, said there is no controversy at all, but just ignorance about the issue which was being exploited by those elements who didn't want a separate Sikh calendar.
The Nanakshahi Calendar was implemented in 1999 by former SGPC chief Professor Kirpal Singh Badunger after the approval of the General House of SGPC. A decision was taken on the basis if recommendations made by the committee. Endorsing Professor Dillon's views, Kawernpal Singh Bittu, another committee member, said Makkar had made amendment related announcement under pressure from right-wingers like the BJP and the RSS.
He said it was the prerogative of the Akal Takht Jathedar to modify the Sikh Calendar. Accusing the SGPC of being in its arbitrary attitude, Harvinder Singh Sarna, former chief of the Delhi Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), said: "We have already written to Akal Takht to look into the matter, but nothing has been done. The SGPC always overlooked the interests of other Sikh bodies, which should not be tolerated."
Dr. Pritpal Singh, the convener of the American Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (AGPC), said, "They strongly condemned and opposed the move of the SGPC chief. This is unacceptable to Sikhs the world over."
He said that SGPC has no authority to alter or modify the calendar. Only the only Akal Takht has that authority.
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