Chandigarh. The rift between the SGPC and the Punjab government, to commemorate the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism, has led the gurdwara body to set its stage at Sultanpur Lodhi in November for this function.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee has awarded a contract to a Delhi-based company to organize a main event on the historic occasion at Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala on 12 November.
The pandal (platform) will be established. And the decoration, lighting and sound system will be arranged, ”said Jagir Kaur, former head of the SGPC and member of the coordination committee, formed on the instructions of Akal Takht, the supreme provisional seat of the Sikhs, to finalize the joint functions of the program.
Both the Punjab government and SGPC are at the woodcutter’s house in the joint ceremony of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, to be held next month.
The SGPC has decided to hold the main event on November 12 at a stadium near Gurdwara Ber Sahib in Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala district, while the state government wants to hold the function near a “tent city” visiting there. The meeting between state government representatives and SGPC for joint ceremonies was inconclusive.
Stating that SGPC has always been doing religious work, Kaur said that the state government should not interfere in SGPC’s case. “The government should focus on improving infrastructure like widening of roads for the convenience of devotees,” he said.
Punjab minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, who is the state government’s representative to the coordination panel to finalize the celebrations program, however, blamed the SGPC, alleging that the apex gurdwara body “never” held a joint function wanted to do. They said that they are working at the behest of the Badal family.