The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has called a special meeting on August 5 to discuss the working of the five Sikh Takhts (temporal seats).
SGPC’s chief secretary, Kulwant Singh Mannan, said the meeting will be led by the committee’s president, Harjinder Singh Dhami.
This meeting comes at a time when tensions are high between the Akal Takht — the highest Sikh authority — and Takht Patna Sahib. The conflict started after Takht Patna Sahib declared Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal a “tankhaiya” (guilty of religious misconduct) for ignoring its summons. He was accused of interfering in the Takht’s matters.
However, the Akal Takht rejected this decision, saying it holds authority over all other Takhts.
Out of the five Sikh Takhts, three — Akal Takht, Takht Damdama Sahib, and Takht Kesgarh Sahib — are managed by SGPC, which is controlled by the SAD. The other two — Patna Sahib (Bihar) and Hazur Sahib (Maharashtra) — have their own local management committees.
In May, the conflict deepened when Patna Sahib’s “panj pyaras” declared the jathedars (heads) of Akal Takht and Damdama Sahib as “tankhaiya”. This came after top Sikh priests gave a clean chit to former Takht Patna Sahib jathedar Giani Ranjit Singh Gauhar, who was earlier removed over alleged misuse of donations.
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