No leaves for Punjab police till Apr 14 as Amritpal calls for Sarbat Khalsa

In the wake of this, the Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav has sent out a message to the officers canceling all previously sanctioned leaves

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The Punjab police have cancelled the leaves of gazetted and non-gazetted officers in the state till April 14 after the radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh gave a call for the "Sarbat Khalsa" gathering, the NDTV reported. 

 

Amritpal has been on the run since his supporters took over a police station over the arrest of one of his aides and have asked the chiefs of Akal Takht to convene a gathering of Sikhs in Bhatinda on the occasion of Baisakhi on April 14.

 

In the wake of this, the Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav has sent out a message to the officers cancelling all previously sanctioned leaves, and the heads have been asked not to approve any leave till April 14, the report said. 

 

Amritpal released two video messages last month appealing for the gathering. He also further asked the jathedars (chiefs of Akal Takht) to take out a religious procession from the Akal Takht in Amritsar to Damdama Sahib in Bathinda ahead of the gathering on Baisakhi.

 

Only the Akal Takht chief can decide whether to call such a congregation after consulting with Sikh scholars and intellectuals, the top gurdwara body Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), said following Amritpal's request.

 

SGPC general secretary Gurcharan Singh Grewal PTI, that it is the personal wish of Amritpal Singh. "It is the sole prerogative of the Akal Takht Jathedar to call or not call a 'Sarbat Khalsa'. The jathedar would see what needs to be done under the prevailing circumstances," 

 

What is Sarbat Khalsa?

 

Literally meaning "all congregation", it is a traditional mass gathering of all factions of Sikhs (Khalsa) to discuss political, social, and religious issues. 

 

The concept originated during the Mughal period, when Zakarya Khan, the governor of Lahore, offered the title of Nawab to the Sikhs as a reward for their services. The Sikhs refused the title and called for the first Sarbat Khalsa to discuss the issue. 

 

Pre-independence, the Sarbat Khalsa was called in 1920 to discuss control over the gurdwaras. In 1986, it was called Operation Blue Star. 

 

The Sarbat Khalsa was called again on November 10, 2015, by Sikh bodies opposed to the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal)