Days after Ajnala Agitation Row, Khalistani Separatist Amritpal Singh Meets Akal Takht Jathedar
The meeting comes close on the heels of Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh forming a 15-member panel to look into the protocol of carrying the Guru Granth Sahib saroop at the sites of protests and demonstrations. The committee would submit its report on March...Read More
Having drawn criticism over carrying the Guru Granth Sahib saroop (physical copy) at the protest site that turned violent in Punjab’s Ajnala town last week, Khalistani separatist Amritpal Singh on Friday turned up at Golden temple and met the officiating Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh at Akal Takht secretariat on Friday.
The meeting comes close on the heels of the Akal Takht jathedar forming a 15-member panel to look into the protocol of carrying the saroop at the sites of protests and demonstrations. The committee would submit its report on March 6. The panel comprises among others the presidents of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), Chief Khalsa Diwan (CKD), and Damdami Taksal.
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With a lot of media focus on it, Amritpal after emerging from the closed-door meeting said that no motive should be attached to it. “No sensation should be built around it. I did not get the chance to meet him earlier, it was by chance on Friday that he too was here. This was the first formal meeting, we discussed about the youth of Punjab and their future in the state," he told the media.
Amritpal said that he had come to pay obeisance at the Golden temple and that it was not a pre-planned meeting with the jathedar.
Interestingly, before going into the meeting he said that he and his supporters would submit before the Akal Takht to clear their stance, if asked to. “We would certainly attend to the call of the Akal Takht. We have historic evidence with us on our move and present our side in terms of maryada. If we are proved to be principally incorrect, we have no hassles to bow down," he said.
Amritpal also reacted to the comments of various political leaders on his earlier statement of “not being an Indian citizen".
“Those who are not ‘Punjabi’ should go out. I am a citizen of Punjab not on the basis of ‘papers’, but because our ancestors have done sacrifices on this soil. So, why should I go out of my land? Those who are not ‘Punjabi’ should leave it," he said.
The Akal Takht jathedar did not respond to media queries on his meeting with Amritpal.
The controversial preacher has come in for severe criticism over the Ajnala incident so much so that even Damdami Taksal, an organisation that once had Sikh secessionist leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale as its head, had denounced the violence under cover of the Guru Granth Sahib saroop at the Ajnala police station.
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