By Karminder Singh Dhillon | The Sikh Bulletin |

The paramount institution of the Sikhs – the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) – recently put up an advertisement for applications to fill up 2 positions of Granthis at Darbar Singh – the paramount religious shrine of the Sikhs.

The advertisement – issued under the name of the Secretary of SGPC – lists out the qualifications that are sought of prospective granthis as follows (See attached photograph).

1) Able to recite the paath from hand-written Recessions of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS).

2) Able to recite the  “Hukumnama” in a loud and sweet voice.

3) Possess expertise in conducting discourse based on the bani of the SGGS, Dasam Granth, Suraj Parkash, Sri Nanak Parkash, Panth Parkash, and the Vaars and Kabits of Bhai Gurdas.

QUESTIONS REGARDING THE QUALIFICATIONS SOUGHT BY SGPC OF THEIR GRANTHIS.

One could ask the following five questions regarding the qualifications being sought of Darbar Sahib granthis and the role of SGPC in promoting Sikhi in the 21st Century.

1) Given that a vast majority of Recessions of the SGGS are printed – what exactly is the need to prioritize the granthi’s ability to read from the handwritten text? Is the suggestion here that the hand written Recessions are more accurate than the printed ones – ALL of which are printed by the SGPC anyway? There is a hand-written beerr on the first floor of the Darbar Sahib that has more than 300 errors that are corrected by pasting small strips of paper over the errors. This beerr is nicknamed “the beerr with stickers”!

SEE ALSO: Grappling with Guru Granth printing errors. Thaminder takes the hit

2) Given that the Darbar Sahib is equipped with a sound system, and given that the granthi’s position is not to entertain the sangat – what is the need again to prioritize the need for a “loud and sweet” voice? Leading Sikh luminaries such as Gurbani expert Prof Sahib Singh and Sikh Encyclopedia writer Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha would fail to qualify because they did not have loud voices. So would a large number of other Gurbani experts who would refuse to even send in an application on the basis that the job of a granthi is not to entertain with his “sweet voice” but to educate and enlighten the sangats.

3) Texts composed by anti-Sikhs, Nirmlas etc that aim to corrupt the tenets of Sikhi, distort the history of our Gurus, and subjugate the purity or uniqueness of Sikhi into the Brahmanical fold such as Suraj Parkash, Bachitar Natak (Dasam Granth), Nanak Parkash, Panth Parkash etc need to be expunged from the Sikh psyche; or at the very least cleaned out of their distortions. This is the proper function of the SGPC – not to ensure that the distortion is continuously propagated by their granthis.

4) Is this advertisement pointing to the fact that the SGPC has been compromised and taken over completely by the sampardayee, derawadi and taksali outfits, so much so that the real intent of the above mentioned qualifications (particularly qualification 3 above) is to ensure their granthis actually come from these outfits? After all these are the outfits that (a) install hand-written beerrs, (b) insist that “reading paath” is the only function of spirituality, and (c) a host of other granths are on par to the SGGS and (d) that Sikhi is a branch of Snatan and Vedic belief systems.

5) What exactly is the use of SGPC running the missionary colleges then? Should not the advertisement say that preference will be given to those granthis who have been trained at any of the SGPC Missionary Colleges throughout Punjab?

WHAT THE GRANTHI WANTED ADVERTISEMENT SHOULD READ

Here is a list of qualifications that granthis serving at Darbar Sahib, the five takhats, and all major gurdwaras across the world ought to possess – at the very minimum. Readers are invited to comment and help build on this list.

NOTICE (AS IT SHOULD BE)

The Darbar Sahib Amritsar is desirable of filling 2 vacancies for the position of Granthi Sahib. Please send in your applications if you meet the following requirements:

1) Possess a deep and thorough understanding of Gurbani as contained within the Aad Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji.

2) Demonstrate an ability to discourse, explain and disseminate the messages contained within the messages of the Aad Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji to the sangat.

3) Demonstrate an ability to communicate and connect effectively with the youth within our community.

4) Display knowledge of at least TWO international languages – one of which must be English – to a level sufficient to

a. explain the Sikh Doctrine to the many international visitors of Darbar Sahib. b. represent the Sikh faith at national and international forums.

c. participate in inter-faith discourses at the national and international level.

5) Exhibit a clear understanding of the SGPC’s plan and desire to make Sikhi relevant to Sikhs living across the world in the 21st Century; and demonstrate your own role to help achieve such a goal.

6) Have a working understanding of computers, the Internet and the social media so as to be able to gauge the pulse of the educated and professional Sikh community’s spiritual needs and concerns.

7) Possess a character, vision, and resolve requisite of occupying the esteemed position of granthi at the most venerated Sikh institution – the Darbar Sahib.

Sikh thinker, writer and parcharak Karminder Singh Dhillon, PhD (Boston), is a retired Malaysian civil servant. He is the editor-in-chief of The Sikh Bulletin and author of The Hijacking of Sikhi. This article appeared in the The Sikh Bulletin – 2024 Issue 1 (January-March 2024). Click here to retrieve archived copies of the bulletin. The author can be contacted at dhillon99@gmail.com. 

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