Sikh religious row erupts over viral song-&-dance at Guru Tegh Bahadur's martyrdom day event by Punjab govt
Punjab education minister on Saturday issued an apology and 'humbly submitted' himself for a hearing scheduled by the Akal Takht, the supreme temporal body of the Sikhs, for August 1.
His apology post on X came after the temporal authority summoned both Bains and the director of the state language department, Jaswant Singh Zafar, to appear before five Singh Sahiban (Sikh clergy) on August 1 at the Akal Takht.
Bir Singh, the singer who performed at the on July 24 event, already offered an apology to the jathedar; and posted a video with a detailed clarification too.
What minister Bains says: 'We invited Bir Singh because…'
Harjot Singh Bains, minister and senior leader of the ruling AAP, in his post in Punjabi on Saturday, explained, 'The Language Department of Punjab organised an event in Srinagar dedicated to the martyrdom day of the ninth guru, Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib Ji, in which prominent intellectuals and scholars shared their thoughts with the congregation about the life and martyrdom of [the guru].'
He said Bir Singh was invited as 'he is a devout Sikh singer, and most of his songs are religious in nature'. Also, he added, he had sung a composition by the ninth guru — Salok Mahalla Nauvan — which was why he was invited.
Bains added, 'Due to an unintentional oversight by the organisers, for whatever happened during this event, as a Sikh and a cabinet Minister, I seek forgiveness."
Stressing that he is 'a true and humble Sikh', he said 'I will present themselves barefoot at Sri Akal Takht Sahib and be bound to obey every command.'
In its summons, the jathedar had said that neither minister Bains nor director Zafar had so far clarified their position 'nor issued any apology for hurting the sentiments of the Sikh community'.
He added that it was for the first time that an event commemorating the martyrdom centenary of a guru began with songs, dance, and entertainment, 'something entirely unacceptable'.
Bir Singh, in a Facebook and Instagram video of apology, said his management made 'the biggest mistake" by 'not giving me with accurate information about the programme'.
He said, 'I went directly to the stage, and since all my attention was on the audience, I didn't see the banner behind the stage. This is my mistake... When we realised that the programme was dedicated to the martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib, we immediately apologised to the sangat and recited Salok Mahalla Nauvan."
He also said that he had always sung songs that 'you can listen to with your entire family'.
Who can hold the events?
Already there was an ongoing row over who can or should organise events in the run-up to and mark the 350th martyrdom anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur in November. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the elected religious body of the Sikhs, had objected to separate events by the state government. It asked the government not to "interfere" in religious matters.
But Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had questioned the SGPC and asked whether it has a "copyright" over holding such events.
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