Missing ‘saroops': A month after SGPC survey, no result

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 18

The Akal Takht-constituted probe panel and the SGPC could not find out the whereabouts of missing 328 Guru Granth Sahib “saroops”.

Rattled by the missing “saroops” and facing the ire of several Sikh organisations, the SGPC has initiated a door-to-door count of the holy scripture, besides roping in devotees to trace them. Besides, public notices have been released in newspapers.

Even after over a month, this first-ever move of the SGPC could not yield desired results.

Meanwhile, the Telangana HC lawyer-headed probe panel has prepared a 1,000-page investigation report. The circumstances were thoroughly examined and the officials and employees concerned were rigorously questioned, but the question “where and on whose instance the “saroops” were issued” remained unanswered.

Several Sikh bodies cornered the SGPC over its “failed administration” or it was feared to be a deliberate attempt to conceal the facts if the SGPC’s U-turn on taking criminal proceedings against 16 officials and staff members was any indication. The SGPC also faced heat for uncertainty that prevailed in the number of “saroops” that got damaged in May 2016 accidental fire at its publication branch in Gurdwara Ramsar Sahib.

Consequently, an indefinite protest continued to be staged in the Golden Temple complex for the past over 20 days.

Every “saroop” of Guru Granth Sahib printed from the SGPC is allotted a serial number and the private publishers do the same.

SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal said: “The teams have been directed to get the serial number and other details of every saroop verified even from the remotest part. It could take time but we are on the job. This exercise is being done to get the lead that could help us trace the missing saroops,” he said.

Two pro forma were also supplied to the officials wherein they were to fill the details of “saroops” either in the gurdwaras or in private residences.