Chandigarh: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Punjab government and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) have been at loggerheads for weeks over the issue of rights to live broadcast Gurbani from the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
With Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann leading the fight on one side and SGPC President Harjinder Singh Dhami on the other, the controversy has taken center stage in Punjab politics and triggered a wide-ranging debate on the management of religious affairs and the role of political parties and government. teased.
The clash began with CM Mann’s May 21 tweet, in which he questioned why the broadcast rights of Gurbani, a “symbol of equality”, were given to only one channel. Mann suggested that several channels should be allowed to broadcast Gurbani and his government was ready to bear any necessary cost.
The channel that Mann targeted in this tweet was Punjab Television Channel (PTC), which is owned by former deputy CM and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal.
PTC has an 11-year agreement with SGPC which gives it exclusive rights to broadcast audio-visual feed of Gurbani from the Golden Temple. For this privilege, the PTC pays an annual fee to the SGPC. The contract signed when the Akali Dal was in power in Punjab expires this July.
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The SGPC, an elected body responsible for the management of historic Gurdwaras in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, is often referred to as the “mini parliament” of the Sikhs and has traditionally had close ties with the Akali Dal.
The exclusive rights of the PTC to broadcast Gurbani have been frequently questioned over the years by the Congress and AAP as part of the SAD’s criticism. The biggest allegation is that the Akali Dal controls the functioning of the SGPC to further its political interests.
Days after Mann’s tweet, the SGPC announced its decision to invite open tenders from TV channels for the rights to broadcast Gurbani live.
However, this announcement failed to impress Mann and he went ahead and called a special session of the assembly. On 20 June, the assembly passed a bill amending the Sikh Gurdwaras Act of 1925, making it mandatory for the SGPC to allow any radio, TV or social media channel to broadcast Gurbani from the Golden Temple.
The SGPC immediately condemned the move, calling it “anti-Sikh” and an attempt to undermine its authority. In a special general body meeting on Monday, the SGPC also announced that it would launch a morcha or protest against the Mann government if the amendment bill was not repealed.
ThePrint takes an exclusive look at the conflicting narratives at the heart of the issue, the political undercurrents and what is at stake for the various parties involved.
Also read: The Gurbani of the Golden Temple can be broadcast for free without tender, the government passed the bill
‘Monopoly over’ from politics – CM’s stand
Mann’s official position is that the amendment will end the monopoly of a single channel on Gurbani. He emphasized that he himself is a Sikh and this step does not amount to interference in religious matters.
During the discussion on the Bill to amend the Sikh Gurdwara Act, the CM said in the assembly, “Gurbani is the common spiritual heritage of all Sikhs and it should be broadcast free of cost through multiple channels to Sikhs around the world.”
However, the political importance of this post is not untouched by any person familiar with the politics of Punjab.
It is widely understood that Mann is trying to appeal to a section of Sikhs who believe that the SGPC should function independently from the influence of any political party or leader.
The prevailing belief is that the Akali Dal uses the Akal Takht, the supreme temporal body of the Sikhs, along with the SGPC, to influence Sikh voters and retain some form of power even when it is out of government in the state.
Mann’s rhetoric has reflected this view. For example, during a debate in the assembly, he targeted the Badal family and also accused the SGPC of allowing “a particular political family” to control its functioning.
The CM further suggested that the Badals may have used the SGPC to extend financial benefits to the PTC. He pointed out that PTC’s viewership has increased significantly due to the telecast of Gurbani, which in turn “brings in advertising revenue”.
Responding to the General House meeting of the SGPC on Monday, Mann tweeted that SGPC President Harjinder Singh Dhami is behaving like the chief spokesperson of the Akali Dal.
Meanwhile, Dhami has said that there is nothing untoward or hidden about his or other members’ relations with the Akali Dal.
Addressing the general house meeting of the SGPC on Monday, Dhami said, “We all are members of the SGPC today because we fought on the tickets given to us by the Akali Dal, so why shouldn’t we be open about our affiliation with that party? Should I speak?”
‘Religious Interference’—SGPC’s Position
The SGPC alleges that the government is interfering in the religious affairs of the Sikhs.
During the General House meeting, Dhami said that broadcasting Gurbani through multiple channels may compromise its sanctity.
The SGPC argues that the transmission of Gurbani should be conducted in a controlled environment in order to maintain the decorum or code of conduct.
It also claimed that the Punjab government has no right to amend the Sikh Gurdwara Act.
Dhami cited a 1959 agreement between then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and SGPC president Master Tara Singh, which stated that any amendment to the 1925 Act could be made only after the resolution was passed by two-thirds of the SGPC members .
Dhami said, “No change can be made in the Act without the consent of the SGPC.”
Speaking to ThePrint, SGPC official Jaskaran Singh said the 1925 Act was passed by the provincial assembly and remained a state act until 1966 when the states were reorganized. The decisions regarding the SGPC were taken by the central government with the consent of the Sikh body, he claimed.
Jaskaran Singh said, “The Punjab Reorganization Act 1966 declared the SGPC an ‘inter-state body’. All decisions regarding the SGPC were taken by the Central Government with the consent of the SGPC. Every amendment to the 1925 Act from 1966 till June 20 this year, when the Punjab government came out with the Gurbani Rights Amendment, was done only after the approval of the SGPC.”
ALSO READ: SGPC rejects Gurbani broadcast bill ‘advancing Delhi boss’s anti-Sikh ideology’
Akali Dal’s anger
When Mann announced his government’s decision to amend the Sikh Gurdwara Act, Sukhbir Singh Badal took to Twitter to criticize it as an attempt to usurp the SGPC and the Sikh community’s authority over Gurdwaras.
“This is the first step towards governments taking over the functioning of Guru’s residences,” he said in a June 18 tweet. At the same time, he also criticized the “arrogance” of the CM.
He said, “If the duty of propagating Gurbani with purity and the functioning of Gurdwaras is to be entrusted to the government, then why did the Akali Dal first make innumerable sacrifices to free the Gurdwaras from Masands?”
Historically, masands were Sikh preachers who acted as intermediaries between the gurus and the community, but over time they became associated with malpractices in the management of gurdwaras.
Badal said that this “attack” will not be tolerated and a befitting reply will be given to the CM by the Sikh community.
While addressing a press conference on Sunday, Akali leader Parambans Singh Bunty Romana mentioned historical events related to SGPC.
He said that the Master Tara Singh-Nehru Pact of 1959 was the result of an effort by the then Congress Chief Minister Pratap Singh Kairon to amend the 1925 Act and nominate 35 members from the then PEPSU (Patiala and East Punjab States Union) region to the SGPC.
He said, “This step was taken with a clear objective of getting the Congress majority in the SGPC, but the SGPC strongly opposed it.”
Romana highlights the significant efforts made by Tara Singh, which included mass protests, imprisonment and the threat of a fast unto death, to save the SGPC from political control, which ultimately resulted in that pact with Nehru.
Sikh Gurudwara (Amendment) Bill 2023 bought by @BhagwantMann govt is the 2nd time a govt has tried to amend Sikh Gurudwaras Act 1925 with the intention of interfering in the religious affairs of the Sikhs without the consent of @SGPCAmritsar .Congress govt tried it in 1959.
It… pic.twitter.com/PJvxzP89D8— Parambans Singh Romana (@ParambansRomana) June 24, 2023
“This is enough for the independent functioning of the SGPC and to ensure that no government in the state can interfere in the religious affairs of the Sikhs,” he said.
During the conference, Romana also pointed fingers at the AAP-led Delhi government.
He said that the Delhi government should give priority to amending the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee Act to regulate the broadcast of Gurbani from the historic Bangla Sahib gurdwara in the capital.
He alleged, “Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee paid a particular channel to broadcast Gurbani. This channel is also permitted to run advertisements and display a QR code to collect funds for broadcasting Gurbani.”
He claimed, “If Mann and the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi are so concerned about Gurbani reaching every Sikh household without giving a single paisa, they should first organize the Delhi household which is directly under their jurisdiction. For AAP and Mann, Gurbani is just an excuse – their main target is SGPC.”
Romana further gave examples of how Gurbani was allegedly being broadcast or streamed in a suspicious manner from other Gurdwaras in the country.
For example, he alleged that a channel that broadcasts Gurbani from Bihar’s Patna Sahib is paid Rs 1 crore per year and also runs ticker advertisements when bhajans and scripture recitations are broadcast.
He asked, “Many social media handles running Gurbani illegally have a questionable history. Will the Mann government take action against those handles?”
Romana said, “A channel broadcasting Gurbani from Hemkund Sahib in Uttarakhand was charging Rs 50 lakh per year from the management. When the contract expired, it was given to PTC which is now broadcasting Gurbani free of cost.”
‘PTC has not earned a single penny from the broadcast of Gurbani’
PTC Group chief Ravindra Narayan told ThePrint that viewers have never been charged for watching any of its channels.
He also rejected the chief minister’s claim that PTC earns crores through advertisements before and after the telecast of Gurbani.
Narayan asked, “No advertisement is run for half an hour before and after the broadcast of Gurbani. Bhagwant Mann claims that Gurbani gives TRP to PTC and PTC earns crores, but TRP rating is based on viewership of an ongoing program, advertising cost during, shortly before and shortly after a popular show But when no advertisement is allowed before or after the broadcast of Gurbani, how does PTC earn money from Gurbani?”
He further added, “When we came into the picture in 2007, the SGPC had entered into several agreements with at least half a dozen channels, which had failed to materialize.”
Narayan also claimed that while some channels are paid to broadcast Gurbani from other historical Gurdwaras, the PTC works differently and contributes to the SGPC.
He said, “We are contributing annually to the education fund of the SGPC. Since 2008, we have paid around Rs 19 crore to SGPC. Apart from this, we run a weekly program called Sikh Sargarmiyaan to showcase the activities of SGPC. ,
Narayan said, “It is free for SGPC. However, we have spent more than Rs 43 crore on its production and telecast. We have not earned a single paisa from the broadcast of Gurbani. We consider it our sacred duty and honor that we are able to do it free of cost.”
(Editing: Falguni Sharma)
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Also read: Why is SGPC and CM Mann fighting over rights to broadcast Gurbani?
