| Malaysia | 30 Sept 2016 | Asia Samachar |
When the community is going through ‘hard times’, Sikhs may resort to conducting an akhand path.
“The non-stop reading of the Guru Granth is carried on at hard times or on occasions of elation or joy. It takes forty-eight hours,” according to the English translation of the Sikh Reht Maryada (SRM), the Sikh code of conduct.
Something must be weighing down the minds of Sikhs in Malaysia. A number of the larger Sikh organisations have decided to conduct the continuous reading of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS) starting tomorrow.
At a meeting on 7 Aug 2016, a number of Sikh organisations ‘had unanimously decided to do ardas in Gurdwaras imploring Waheguru to give guidance to the Sikh Panth in overcoming many challenges faced and to unite Sikhs with SGGS ji’.
SEE ALSO: Sikh council tells Malaysian gurdwaras not to permit Dasam Granth preaching
SEE ALSO: Tatt Khalsa postpones AGM as auditor declined to sign off accounts
They included Malaysian Gurdwaras Council (MGC), Khalsa Diwan Malaysia (KDM), Sikh Naujawan Sabha Malaysia (SNSM) and Sant Sohan Singh Ji Melaka Memorial Society (SSSMMS).
The akhand path will be held at Gurdwara Sahib Selayang in Selangor from 30 Sept to 2 Oct.
At its conclusion, lawyer-cum-parcharak Manjeet Singh will speak on Gurbani and the SRM at a session from 10.30am to 11.50am.
From discussions with officials of the organisations, Asia Samachar understands that the main issues troubling the community at the moment is the debate on the Dasam Granth and the SRM.
There has been intense debate on the social media on whether the entire Dasam Granth contains the writings of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru of the Sikhs. New research has suggested that large chunks of the Dasam Granth, previously taken to be writings of Dasam Pita (as the tenth Guru is also referred to), are found in other Hindu granths.
The debate, pretty divisive and heated at times, could be seen at the comment sections of the Asia Samachar (both at its website and Facebook page) in response to articles on Dasam Granth.
A representative of the Tatt Khalsa Diwan Selangor was also present at the 7 Aug meeting, but had later made remarks seemingly against the ‘unanimous’ decision.
Tatt Khalsa has also been embroiled into a minor dispute when it was forced to postpone its annual general meeting (AGM) on 25 Sept when it pointed out that one of its internal auditors had not signed off the statement of accounts as presented to the house.
[ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs in Southeast Asia and surrounding countries. We have a Facebook page, do give it a LIKE. Follow us on Twitter. Visit our website: www.asiasamachar.com]
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