Dhadrianwale slams Akal Takht acting jathedar

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Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwale – Photo: Facebook page of Parmeshar Dwar Gurmat Parchar Sewa Mission
By Asia Samachar Team | INDIA |

Beleaguered independent Sikh preacher Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwale is not taking the Akal Takht decision against him lying down. A day after its pronouncements, he came out guns blazing.

In a hard-hitting interview, Ranjit stayed defiant even as he faces a possible excommunication order from the Sikh Panth, a fate that fell upon some recent prominent parcharaks (preachers).

In essence, he has alledged that the Amritsar-based Sikh authority had sided with the taksals, a reference to some of the influential Sikh missionary groups, when deciding that he had erred in his his Sikh preaching.

“The jathedars want to stamp their authority by making me appear before them…I want people to start speaking out against this corrupt system,” he told Dainik Savera Jalandhar in an interview. See here or here.

On Monday (24 Aug), Akal Takht acting jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh announced decisions taken against Ranjit and another popular Sikh preacher Harinder Singh who heads the UK-based Nirvair Khalsa Jatha (NKJ).

Leading a team of panj pyarey, Harpreet said they had received a report from the sub-committee formed earlier to investigate allegations against Ranjit for allegedly distorting religious and historical facts. Ranjit was found guilty and had been asked to come to the Akal Takht to seek forgiveness, or may face further actions.

Harpreet has also asked Sikhs not to listen or share his videos which are widely followed online.

In an entry at the Parmeshar Dwar Gurmat Parchar Sewa Mission Facebook page a day after the decision was announced, Ranjit shared his thoughts on the decision. Three days later, it has already clocked in close to 17,000 views and shared 7,400 times, with more than 2,100 comments. The same video has had more than 178,000 views on the Youtube.

In the interview given a day after the decision was announced, Ranjit alleged that the powers-that-be at the Akal Takht were aligned with the taksals.

“In the past few years, ever since I had dropped the taksal maryada and followed Gurmat, as I understood it, from that day, these people had started their attacks.

“First, there was an attempted murder. When that failed, they started hurling allegations that I’m a ‘Guru dookhi’; that I’m preaching against Guru Sahib and the Darbar Sahib. They started peddling those lies. And they have achieved some success,” he said.

He believed those ‘lies’ thrown played a role in the Akal Takht decision taken against him.

In the interview, he was asked why not willing to face the committee set-up by the Akal Takht and why he insisted on appearing in an open platform.

“There is the Akal Takht and the Sri Darbar Sahib. Then we have the parbandhaks (management team), the Jathedars. There is the system. Let’s not mix them up.

“When we think of Akal Takht and the Darbar Sahib, Guru Hargobind abd Guru Amar Das come to mind. When we think of the parbandhaks, the Jathedars come into the picture,” he said, adding that the ‘system is corrupted’.

But why the insistence in wanting to appear in an open platform? He said that was because they first spoke on the issues in open platforms.

“Since they’ve been making open allegations for the last four years, I’m asking to come to an open platform and state where I’ve gone wrong in my Sikhi preaching.

“They are saying that I’m at loggerheads with the Akal Takht. My issue is with the Jathedars, not the Akal Takht. We have to separate the two,” he said.

Ranjit cited an example of the Akal Takht decision in September 2015 to forgive Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for his alleged blasphemy. One month later, the then Akal Takht jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh was forced to revoke the forgiveness due to the immense pressure from Sikhs.

“When Akal Takht Jathedars gave their pronouncement on the Sirsa Baba, many didn’t agree. Many disagreed with the Jathedars to forgive the Sirsawala. They were not against the Akal Takht, but with the decision of the Jathedars. Same here,” he said.

In 2017, the controversial godman – who headed a Haryana-based deraa wielding considerable political clout and financial muscle – was handed a 20 year jail term for raping two women followers in 2002.

When pressed on why he did not appear before the jathedars, Ranjit said he could have done it to get a ‘clean sheet’ for himself and his organisation Parmeshar Dwar.

“The jathedars want to stamp their authority by making me appear before them…I want people to start speaking out against this corrupt system,” he said.

He then repeated allegations that the jathedars were biased and were doing the bidding of their leaders.

He added in the last few decades, none of the babas who belittled Sikhi were ever excommunicated from the Sikh Panth. “They do so on those who questioned them,” he said.

Ranjit said while jathedars had decided that some of his statements went against Gurmat, they have yet to take actions against preachers who were preaching stuff that flies in the face of Gurmat.

“Is sacrificing slaughtered goats as per Gurmat? What about applying the tilak? What about bowing before the babas? What about doing (physical) aarti? There are so many types of maryada, and they give amrit (amrit shaknaa) as per their own ways. Are all these aligned with Gurmat?

“The Jathedars are silent on these matters. But why Dhadrianwale is a pain in the neck? It’s simply because he does not bow down to the taksal….One phone call to  them [the taksals] and the matter can be resolved,” he said.

So, what is the underlying issue of this tussle?

“They are not allowing others to the right to live. We want to motivate people. We love the Guru Granth Sahib. My method may be different. I use logic, I use practical arguments that jive with the youth of today. Let me do it my way. On the other side, they can do it their way,” he said.

He also suggested that the acting jathedar may have taken the drastic measure to ensure that he is gets confirmation as the Akal Takht jathedar.

The interview can be seen at Dainik Savera Jalandhar’s Facebook (here) or Youtube (here)

 

RELATED STORY:

Akal Takht moves against Sikh preachers Dhadrianwale and Harinder (Asia Samachar, 25 Aug 2020)

The God of Agendas (Asia Samachar, 26 Aug 2020)

Resolving Dhadrianwale issue (Asia Samachar, 20 Feb 2020)

Rape-convict Dera chief Ram Rahim seeking parole for ‘good behaviour’ – Reports (Asia Samachar, 25 June 2019)

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