SGPC panel trashes UNESCO dossier
AMRITSAR: The dossier once supplied to the UNESCO to solicit world heritage status for Harmandar Sahib is full of blunders, the SGPC panel has concluded, and recommended that the demand not be renewed under the same set of guidelines. The dossier is not in tune with Sikh doctrinal principles as it carries erroneous and contradictory perspective of certain Sikh ethos, the panel states.
The then SGPC General Secretary Kiranjot Kaur had got the dossier prepared by a Delhi based expert, Gurmeet Rai. The SGPC and an NRI Sikh had shared the Rs 40 lakh costs.
After supplying the dossier to UNESCO through the Union Ministry, the SGPC had withdrawn the same in 2005, in wake of a major controversy over the issue.
The issue has returned to haunt the Sikh body with the Sikh Gurdwara Judicial Commission (SGJC) listing a petition of 2006 for hearing. Petitioner Kanwarpal Singh of Dal Khalsa had sought the disqualification of all SGPC functionaries responsible for supplying the dossier to UNESCO. He had also sought to recover Rs 40 lakh incurred on preparing the dossier from the committee functionaries, with interest.
Asked to comment, SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar said that a final decision would be taken shortly, after examining the panel report.
The panel comprising Sikh scholars Dr Jasbir Singh Sabar, Pirthipal Singh Kapoor, Dr Gurnek Singh and former SGPC Secretary Waryam Singh has prepared the report. Punjabi University V-C Dr Jaspal Singh, Dr Jodh Singh and Prof Balwant Singh Dhillon were also on the committee.
The panel had also consulted a team of senior lawyers headed by Kanwaljit Singh. September 1 is the next date of hearing.
The panel report remarks that the dossier was contrary to the spirit of the Sikh Gurdwara Act 1925, under which the SGPC is governed. Among the most serious objections, the panel found that remarks such as * Sikh ideology is an imitation of Hindu, Islam and Buddhism, mixing up Sikh religion with culture, describing the temporal seat of Akal Takht as part of Akal Bungas, referring a Hukamnama as speech of Guru, describing the Dasam Granth as another scripture of Sikh religion, drawing a comparison of Om with Iqoamkar, using derogatory terminology for holy sarovar and practice of baptism etc * were offensive.
The panel also cites the move of seeking heritage status by accepting the UNESCO guidelines of appointing two parallel heritage committees of outsiders, by ignoring the fact that no non-baptized Sikh could become the member of any such committee directly or indirectly related to the affairs of Harmandar Sahib.
It also rejects the idea of making Harmandar Sahib more popular by getting it listed as a heritage site under UNESCO. The holy shrine already figures among the five most famous sites in the world, it states.
Attachments - Sikh Philosophy Network
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AMRITSAR: The dossier once supplied to the UNESCO to solicit world heritage status for Harmandar Sahib is full of blunders, the SGPC panel has concluded, and recommended that the demand not be renewed under the same set of guidelines. The dossier is not in tune with Sikh doctrinal principles as it carries erroneous and contradictory perspective of certain Sikh ethos, the panel states.
The then SGPC General Secretary Kiranjot Kaur had got the dossier prepared by a Delhi based expert, Gurmeet Rai. The SGPC and an NRI Sikh had shared the Rs 40 lakh costs.
After supplying the dossier to UNESCO through the Union Ministry, the SGPC had withdrawn the same in 2005, in wake of a major controversy over the issue.
The issue has returned to haunt the Sikh body with the Sikh Gurdwara Judicial Commission (SGJC) listing a petition of 2006 for hearing. Petitioner Kanwarpal Singh of Dal Khalsa had sought the disqualification of all SGPC functionaries responsible for supplying the dossier to UNESCO. He had also sought to recover Rs 40 lakh incurred on preparing the dossier from the committee functionaries, with interest.
Asked to comment, SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar said that a final decision would be taken shortly, after examining the panel report.
The panel comprising Sikh scholars Dr Jasbir Singh Sabar, Pirthipal Singh Kapoor, Dr Gurnek Singh and former SGPC Secretary Waryam Singh has prepared the report. Punjabi University V-C Dr Jaspal Singh, Dr Jodh Singh and Prof Balwant Singh Dhillon were also on the committee.
The panel had also consulted a team of senior lawyers headed by Kanwaljit Singh. September 1 is the next date of hearing.
The panel report remarks that the dossier was contrary to the spirit of the Sikh Gurdwara Act 1925, under which the SGPC is governed. Among the most serious objections, the panel found that remarks such as * Sikh ideology is an imitation of Hindu, Islam and Buddhism, mixing up Sikh religion with culture, describing the temporal seat of Akal Takht as part of Akal Bungas, referring a Hukamnama as speech of Guru, describing the Dasam Granth as another scripture of Sikh religion, drawing a comparison of Om with Iqoamkar, using derogatory terminology for holy sarovar and practice of baptism etc * were offensive.
The panel also cites the move of seeking heritage status by accepting the UNESCO guidelines of appointing two parallel heritage committees of outsiders, by ignoring the fact that no non-baptized Sikh could become the member of any such committee directly or indirectly related to the affairs of Harmandar Sahib.
It also rejects the idea of making Harmandar Sahib more popular by getting it listed as a heritage site under UNESCO. The holy shrine already figures among the five most famous sites in the world, it states.
Attachments - Sikh Philosophy Network
More...