Deepening the crisis within Sikh religious affairs, Sikhs on Tuesday announced the "appointment" of convicted Khalistani terrorist Jagtar Singh Hawara as the Jathedar (chief) of the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikh religion.
The congregation of radicals also announced the "removal" of all Sikh high priests.
The appointment was announced by some Sikh leaders during a 'Sarbat Khalsa' (grand assembly of Sikhs) congregation at Chaba near Amritsar on Tuesday.
Hawara is the main accused in the assassination of then Punjab chief minister Beant Singh who was killed by a human bomb in Chandigarh on August 31, 1995.
The congregation decided that the present Akal Takht Jathedar Gurbachan Singh be removed from his post and that Hawara, who is serving a life term in the Beant Singh assassination case, be appointed.
During the congregation, in view of Hawara being in prison, the leaders announced that former MP D.S. Mand would be the interim jathedar of the Akal Takht and would address the Sikh community from the shrine, located inside the Golden Temple complex, on Diwali on Wednesday.
The congregation was organised by a few radical Sikh groups.
Accusing them of "genocide of Sikhs", the congregation named former police chief K.P.S. Gill and Operation Bluestar commander K.S. Brar, both Sikhs themselves, as 'tankhaiya' (person guilty of religious misconduct) and directed them to appear before the Akal Takht by November 20.
NO DIWALI LIGHTING AT GOLDEN TEMPLE, GURDWARAS THIS YEAR
The millions of tiny lights that have traditionally lit up the Golden Temple complex here in the Sikh holy city every year are missing this year, as the Sikh clergy and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) decided not to mark the occasion following recent incidents of sacrilege of the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, and subsequent incidents of violence across Punjab.
The Golden Temple complex here, which is home to the holiest of Sikh shrines Harmandar Sahib, wore a normal look on Tuesday instead of the lit up arrangement that the devout come to see every year.
"I have been coming here for years on Diwali eve to see the lighting which is always amazing. This time there are no lights due to recent incidents of sacrilege of the holy book. Many people are disappointed over the incidents," Sampuran Singh, a devotee from nearby Tarn Taran town, told IANS.
Majority gurdwaras across Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh too did not put up any lighting this year due to the recent developments.
"The SGPC decided that no celebrations should be held this year due to the sacrilege incidents," said Gurmukh Singh, a granthi (ceremonial reader of the holy book).
Incidents of sacrilege of the Sikh holy book were reported in recent months which led to protests and violence last month, leaving two people dead and hundreds injured.
