39 Sikh leaders of SAD, Congress and AAP parties have been sentenced to ‘tankhah’ a form of religious punishment by the Akal Takht today in Amritsar for seeking political support from the Dera Saccha Sauda for the 2017 Assembly Elections.
Leaders And Their Punishments
As many as 44 leaders are held guilty of violating the Akal Takht’s Hukumnama. All the leaders belong to three different political parties namely SAD, Congress and AAP.
The leaders have been divided into two categories and are punished accordingly. The categories are named as the Gursikhs and Patits, the Patits are those who believe in Guru Granth Sahib but do not follow the Khalsa code of conduct.
There are 18 leaders who fall in the Patit category and 21 who come under the Gursikh category. The Patit ones have to perform sewa for 10 days, one hour each day at the Gurdwaras located close to the area from where they stoop up for the elections. 10 of the leaders punished under this category are from the Congress named- Randeep Singh Nabha, Kushaldeep Singh, Sandhu Singh Dharamsot, Rajinder Singh Samana,Daman Kaur, Kukhbaaz Singh Jattana,Amarinder Singh Warring, Kewal Singh, Darshan Singh, and Karan Kaur. 7 leaders are from the SAD: Gulzar Singh, Dilraj Singh Bhundal, Nisham Singh Budhlada, Darshan Singh Kot Phatta, Gulzar Singh, Surinder Pal Singh and Gulzar Singh and Hardeep Singh. A singhle one from the AAP party named Narinder Singh.
The 21 other leaders mentioned in the Gursikh category include 20 leaders from SAD: Gurpreet Singh Raju, Iqbal Singh Jhunda, Hari Singh Nabha, Prakash Singh Bhatti, Ajit Singh Shant, Varinder Kaur, Jeetmohinder Singh Sidhu, Darbara Singh Guru, Sikandar Singh Maluka, Ranjit Singh Talwandi, Didar Sigh Bhatti, Mantar Singh Barar, InderIqbal Singh Atwal, Gobing Singh Longowal, Kanwaljit Singh Rozibarkandi, Parmbans Singh, Ishar Singh Meharbaan, Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Surjit Singh Rakhra and Varinder Kaur. Belonging to the Congress is Ajitinder Singh Mofar.
One of the leader Manpreet Singh Ayali,who is a former SAD MLA was freed from all the charges that were against him as no proof was availbale against him. The MLA from the Dakha Assembly clarified himself in front of the five High Priests by affirming that he never participated in Dera fellowship or asked for any support.
Four of the leaders from Congress and SAD did not appear in the meeting named Janmeja Singh Sekhon(SAD), Arjan Badal(Congress), Ajaib Singh Bhatti(Congress) and former CM Rajinder Kaur Bhattal(Congress).
The Religious Judges and Their Ways Of Punishing
The punishment sentence given to the guilty leaders was decided by the Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh, Takht Kesgarh Sahib Jathedar Giani Mal Singh, Takht Patna Sahib Jathedar Giani Iqbal Singh along with the Head Granthis of Golden Temple named Jagtar Singh and Raghbir Singh.
Leaders were invited to the podium situated on the ground floor of the Akal Takht and given ‘tankhah‘. Under this type of punishment come the Gursikh leaders and they are designated to sweep the passage leading to the Golden Temple covering the areas from Gurdwara Saragarhi to Darshani Deori to the Ghanta Ghar for a day. Next day they are assigned to clean the full parikrama area of the Temple.
After the completion of the sewa, each leader will give Rs 5,100 to the ‘daan peti’ and Rs 501 for the ‘parshad’ at the Akal Takht during the prayer time.
Image Source = Tribune India
Comments
