PSGPC reluctant to allow SGPC ragis at Kartarpur shrine

GS Paul

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, february 4

The SGPC’s move to send ragis to perform at Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib has apparently not gone down well with the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC), if the fresh recruitment by the latter for the shrine is any indication.

Sikhs in Pakistan are in micro-minority. Consequently, there has been shortage of professional raagis comparative to the number of Sikh shrines located in that country.

As the need was felt, the SGPC offered the services of Golden Temple raagis so that the day-long Gurmat kirtan was not disrupted at Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib.

On December 16, the SGPC sent its maiden three-member ragi jatha led by Bhai Shaukeen Singh through Kartarpur corridor. They returned the same evening after performing their duties. After around a week, the Kartarpur management stopped them from performing kirtan there.

It was later known that the PSGPC had raised objection over SGPC’s “unilateral” decision of sending ragi jathas without taking official approval from them.

SGPC spokesperson Kulwinder Singh said a request letter was sent officially to the PSGPC, but there was no response. “We offered to send Golden Temple ragis taking it as a sewa. But, they disrupted it uninformed,” he said.

The PSGPC had scheduled a meeting on January 6 to contemplate on SGPC’s request, but in vain. Despite repeated attempts, the PSGPC officials did not comment on the issue.