Malaysian granthi seminar attracts 32 granthis, 3 parbandhaks

By Malaysian Gurdwaras Council (MGC) | EVENT REPORT | MALAYSIA

The Malaysian Gurdwaras Council (MGC) had organised a seminar for Granthi Sahibans which was held on 28 June 2018 at the Dynasty Hotel Seminar Room, Sentul, Kuala Lumpur. This seminar was supported by the Social Economic Development of Indian Community Unit (SEDIC), Prime Minister’s Department. The seminar was fully funded by SEDIC and the MGC hereby expresses its full gratitude for this funding. The money spent will be fully accounted to SEDIC and the records produced. This SEDIC funding can only be used for seminars approved by it and for no other purpose.

The attendance list for the seminar was signed by 41 persons – 32 Granthis, 3 lecturers, 3 Parbandhaks and 2 MGC staff and the President. Registration for the Seminar was from 9.00 AM.

There was participation by Granthis from Perak, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Seremban and Malacca. There was no participation by Granthis from Penang, Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan, Johor and Pahang due to the distance involved. Penang has requested for a similar Seminar for Granthis to be done in Penang for the Northern States. The MGC hopes to carry out a Seminar for the Northern States in a few months time.

The opening address was done by Sdr. Jagir Singh. He welcomed all participants and urged them to participate fully in the Seminar so that they could derive maximum benefit. Sdr. Jagir Singh further emphasised the need for all Gurdwaras to follow the Panthic approved Sikh Reht Maryada (SRM) so that it could bring about Sikh unity and be the binding glue for all Sikhs.

The first speaker was Bhai Giani Ranjodh Singh Fagwada, Former Head Granthi Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib. He spoke on the Duties of Granthi Sahiban and the need for Imandhari (diligence/honesty) in the discharge of their duties with relevant quotes from Gurbani. He further spoke on the word “SANT” as used in Gurbani and emphasised that during all the 10 Guru Sahibans times such word “SANT” was not bestowed on any individual. Again, Bhai Giani Ranjodh Singh Ji supported his arguments by quoting from Gurbani.

The second speaker was Associate Prof Autar Singh. His topic was “Gurdwara Protocols and the Sikh Reht Maryada”. He went through various provisions in the SRM and engaged in lively discussion with the participants.

The third and last speaker was Dr. Karminder Singh (Phd. Boston). His topic was “Centrality of ONE in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji”. He spoke eloquently on the subject and stated that SGGSJ is the only Holy Book in the world which starts with the Numerical 1 and emphasised its importance. He then proceeded to quote extensively from Gurbani to show the relevance and importance of one in Sikhi.

The last session of the seminar was Question and Answer. The panel for the session comprised of Jagir, Dr. Karminder, Ranjodh and Autar. There were a lot of questions from Granthi Sahibans which were answered by the panel. Every speaker who spoke had praised the seminar and requested for such seminars to be held yearly. Giani Jaswinder Singh from Gurdwara Sahib Klang stated that this was the first such seminar he attended and was very impressed with the high quality of the seminar and that he had learnt a lot in this one day itself. Giani Jagmohan Singh of Gurdwara Sahib Sentul, too, supported the seminar and said it was very knowledge based. Similarly, Giani Satnam Singh from Gurdwara Sahib Seremban said that the seminar was very beneficial and that it should continue to emphasise the importance of SRM and all Gurdwaras should follow it.

GUR VICHAR WEBSITE

The Gur Vichar website which operates from Australia has been guilty of regularly churning out FAKE NEWS. It is run by Malaysian born Harnaak Singh who had migrated to Australia and has direct links with some locals having a divisive agenda. Recently he attacked the MGC conducted above seminar by publishing Fake News about the seminar. His writings are full of venom, name calling such as moorakh, agiani moorakh, etc.

The Asia Samachar (28 May 2018) when reporting about the FAKE NEWS by Gur Vichar stated: “The volleys from the Gur Vichar website were no coincidence. The website has been attacking Sikh organisations, local Sikh preachers and foreign Sikh preachers coming to Malaysia whom it deemed as having “deviant” Sikh views, for more than a year now”.

CONCLUSION

From the above write-up on the seminar, it is clear that the Granthi Sahiban attending the seminar were very appreciative of the seminar and wanted more of such seminars to be conducted in the future. Due to the difficulty of Granthis from afar attending, for eg. from Northern Sates, Johor, etc., regional seminars will be carried out in other states in the future.

[The report above has been adapted from a Malaysian Gurdwaras Council letter dated 11 July 2018 sent to all gurdwaras in Malaysia. A copy was emailed to Asia Samachar]

RELATED STORY:

Fake Sikhi from Australia (Asia Samachar, 28 May 2018)

JAGIR: MGC managing granthi entry, standardising maryada at gurdwaras (Asia Samachar, 20 Nov 2016)