10 birs burnt; granthi, panel members awarded tankhah

Our Correspondent

Tarn Taran, May 21

Situation became tense at Manochahal Kalan village, 12 km from here, today when the matter of burning of 10 “birs” (saroops) of Guru Granth Sahib kept in the “sukhasan” of Gurdwara Baba Ram Jogi Peer was noticed by the sangat.

The matter was resolved by the representatives of various Sikh organisations, who awarded religious punishment (tankhah) to the gurdwara granthi and members of the gurdwara committee, which they accepted respectfully.

Atma Singh, president of the gurdwara committee, in a complaint to the police here today said an electric short circuit had damaged one “bir” of Guru Granth Sahib last evening.

The representatives of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and other Sikh organisations visited the spot today. Heavy police force was deployed in the village under the supervision of Ravinderpal Singh, DSP, Goindwal Sahib, who also collected firsthand information regarding the incident.

Officials of the SGPC and the representatives of Sikh organisations Bhai Jasbir Singh Khalsa, Bhai Amrik Singh (Damdami Taksal) and Bhai Tarlochan Singh Sohal held a meeting in the gurdwara and discussed all aspects of the incident. The representatives held granthi Hardeep Singh, Atma Singh, president of the gurdwara committee, and members of the committee responsible for the incident. The representatives told Hardeep Singh to perform ‘sehaj path’ of Guru Granth Sahib and perform ‘bhog’ at the last.

The gurdwara committee president and members would clean shoes of the sangat in the ‘jora ghar’ of the village gurdwara for one month and on the last day of the sewa they would go to nearby Gurdwara Beer Baba Budha Sahib, Thatha, where they would offer ‘karah parshad’ for Rs 1,100.

The representatives of the Sikh organisations observed that the granthi and members of the gurdwara committee gave wrong information to the sangat and the tried to remove evidence of the incident.

The committee had told that only one ‘bir’ was damaged, whereas the fire had damaged 10 ‘birs’. The committee also whitewashed the wall of the gurdwara, which was blackened due to fire, to remove evidence.

Bhai Dilbag Singh of the SGPC said the damaged ‘birs’ were sent to Goindwal Sahib to be cremated with respect.