Punjab govt offers to organise 550th Prakash Purb events at Sultanpur Lodhi under Akal Takht patronage

Taking an initiative to break the "deadlock" over the main events to celebrate the 550th Prakash Purb of Guru Nanak Dev, Captain Amarinder Singh-led government on Tuesday offered to hold the Sultanpur Lodhi functions on November 11-12 under the patronage of the Akal Takht, with the support of the Sikh Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee (SGPC).

The Chief Minister spoke to the Akal Takht Jathedar, Giani Harpreet Singh, on phone while his cabinet colleagues Charanjit Singh Channi and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa met him to convey the state government's proposal, read a statement.

The ministers later said that they had, on behalf of the Chief Minister, urged the Jathedar to direct the SGPC to support the official events and not waste Rs 12-15 crore of the Sangat's money on setting up a separate stage, especially when the state government had already developed the necessary infrastructure for the key programmes, the statement added.

As per the proposal, "no political speeches would be allowed at the main function", during which only the Jathedars of the five Takhts, the Head Granthi of Darbar Sahib, the Prime Minister (or any other senior representative of the central government), former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, the Chief Minister and SGPC president would be present on the stage, the statement said.

The Akal Takht Jathedar said he will convene a meeting of all the five Jathedars next week to finalise the programme for the main functions, slated to be held on November 11-12 in Sultanpur Lodhi, where devotees are expected to converge to pay their respects to the first Sikh Guru on the occasion.

Amarinder Singh had suggested all Sikhs to bow before the Akal Takht and come together under its aegis for the blessed event.

The state government had no issues with the SGPC conducting other related events separately, inside gurdwara premises, the ministers told the Jathedar.