Fear of Badal’s excommunication led to Jathedar’s suspension

CHANDIGARH, MARCH 29: Bibi Jagir Kaur, who suffered humiliation and isolation since her controversial excommunication from the Sikh Panth,...

CHANDIGARH, MARCH 29: Bibi Jagir Kaur, who suffered humiliation and isolation since her controversial excommunication from the Sikh Panth, is jubilant. It was the panic reaction again by Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Puran Singh which invited his suspension, providing relief to the first woman president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), and perhaps also to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who also heads the Akali Dal. The air was thick with the talk that the suspension had been consented by Badal.

Interestingly, the flash-point came rather unexpectedly when Badal was contemplating some steps to defuse the religio-political crisis generated by the confrontation between Bibi Jagir Kaur and the Jathedar of Akal Takht, the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs for prayer and politics. The Jathedar panicked and excommunicated five more members of the SGPC executive committee which met under the leadership of Bibi Jagir Kaur on Tuesday.

It was the apprehension that Badal himself was going to be excommunicated which sealed the fate of the Jathedar. Sources said Badal was alerted about the likely action against him. The executive committee finally met and suspended Puran Singh before he could act. The SGPC, which is the parallel centre of power in the Akali matrix, is the appointing authority for the Takht jathedars.

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It is the long-term impact of this action which is to be seen though immediately, the supporters of Cooperation Minister Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, who was playing the role of mediator, could be upset as they had decided against attending the executive committee meeting under the presidency of Bibi Jagir Kaur.

Interestingly, Badal, who was not happy with the negative role being played by some people around Giani Puran Singh, had advised the SGPC chief to adjourn the meeting by a day after passing the resolution on the gunning down of the Sikhs in Kashmir. In the meantime, Bibi Jagir Kaur was to be persuaded to write to the Akal Takht Jathedar saying she was willing to apologise in case she had committed any mistake advertently or inadvertently.

The script was cleared at the level of Badal himself. However, things moved too fast in Amritsar, not allowing any time to the Chief Minister to initiate reconciliation.

Bibi Jagir Kaur has taken strong action. Several Sikh organisations had earlier demanded the sack of Giani Puran Singh. Even before this crisis started, he had issued some controversial statements.

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Ironically, both Bibi and Giani Puran Singh had been handpicked by Badal during the confrontation with then SGPC chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra and then Akal Takht Jathedar Bhai Ranjit Singh. The rift between the two appointees of his came into the open over implementation of the Nanakshahi calender which was opposed by the Akal Takht chief. Senior Punjab Minister from the Bhartiya Janata Party, Balramji Dass Tandon had also opposed the calender arguing it would divide the Punjabi society.

However, Giani Puran Singh summarily excommunicated Bibi through the hukamnama (edict) he issued from Guna while on way to Takht Hazoor Sahib in Maharashtra.