chandigarhThe Sikh Gurdwara (Amendment) Bill, 2023 was passed in the Punjab Assembly on Tuesday to ensure ‘free broadcast’ of Gurbani from the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab. The various compositions of the Sikh Gurus and other authors of the Guru Granth Sahib are known as ‘Gurbani’.
After the bill was introduced in the House, it was discussed and then passed. Earlier on Monday, the Punjab Cabinet approved amendments to the British-era Sikh Gurdwaras Act of 1925, to ensure free live streaming of Gurbani from the Golden Temple.
Currently, Gurbani of the Golden Temple is broadcast on ‘PTC’, a private channel and often associated with the Badal family of Shiromani Akali Dal. During the discussion on the bill, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said that only one channel should not have the right to broadcast the Gurbani saint.
He said former Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh had last year directed the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the main religious body of the Sikhs, to start his channel, but it could not be launched. “Only one channel has the right to broadcast the Gurbani saint,” Mann said, in an apparent reference to the PTC channel.
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Mann said that people who watch this channel abroad have to pay a lot for its customer service. The Chief Minister called it the need of the hour to spread ‘Sarab Sanjhi Gurbani’ across the world with the aim of spreading the universal message of ‘Sarva Kalyan’.
Expressing a similar view, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Manpreet Ayali said that Gurbani’s broadcast should be done transparently and only one channel should not have exclusive rights. He said that SGPC should start his own channel.
However, Ayali opposed the bill, saying that the government should not interfere in the affairs of the SGPC. BSP MLA Nachhatar Pal also opposed the bill, saying that before taking such decisions, religious bodies and stakeholders should be discussed. On the other hand, Aam Aadmi Party MLA Budha Ram said that if only one channel broadcasts Gurbani, it cannot reach the people of the world at large.
Meanwhile, members of Congress organized a walkout in the House to protest that there was no provision for Question Hour or Zero Hour in the current session of the Assembly. The BJP alleged on Monday that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab was holding a special two-day assembly session to push its agenda and waste taxpayers’ money. In such a situation, the party had announced that it would stay out of the proceedings.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the main religious body of the Sikhs, opposed the move by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, saying the 1925 Act is a central law and can only be amended by Parliament. . However, Punjab Chief Minister Mann said that the state government was fully capable of amending the Act as the High Court had already ruled on the issue by a separate Gurdwara Committee for Haryana that the Act was not a law. interstate, but rather a State Law.
