M A I N   N E W S

Devotees crowded out
Ashwini Bhatnagar
Tribune News Service

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Mr Parkash Singh Badal after paying obeisance at Golden Temple on Wednesday. — Tribune photo by Karam Singh

Amritsar, September 1
At the end of the day it was an out and out sarkari show. The wranglings between the religious sarkar of the SGPC and the political sarkar of Punjab never stopped, the cavalcades kept rushing past and the official seminars and orations were untiring. The people, who constitute the bulwark of a faith, went back home with their shradha a bit chipped.

As can be expected, emotions were high among the devout for the ‘grand’ celebration of the 400th anniversary of the installation of the holy Guru Granth Sahib at the Golden Temple. Devotees poured into the city a night before the celebrations began on August 31. The parikarma, Darshani Deori and the areas around the Temple were crammed with people. Through the night, the fervour ran high.

Then, the celebrations began. The official stage became more and more crowded and the devotees were crowded out. There was no place for the faithful in the midst of the unending siropa ceremonies and security arrangements.

The thinning out of the essential element of the celebration can be gauged from the fact that of the two lakh expected visitors for whom accommodation arrangements had been made, only 20,000 turned up for the night. The SGPC had made these arrangements in schools, colleges and dharamshalas of the city.

Hotel occupancy too was abysmally low. Bulk bookings done by the state government, the SGPC and other organisations went abegging. NRIs were expected in sizeable number but their presence was only token in nature. The only jatha worth mention was the 1000-strong group from Pakistan.

Crowd estimates too have caused a controversy. SGPC had initially claimed that 30 lakh to 35 lakh people would be present in the city during the celebrations. The hype over the participation scared off people, specially the not-so-young from coming here. The SGPC, on its part, blames the state government for ‘preventing’ the people from coming as it had made stringent security arrangements.

Whatever the reason, the devotees kept away and at best the two-day celebrations saw an inflow of just three lakh to five lakh persons. In fact, the streets of Amritsar were even less crowded than they are on an average day.

Shoddy treatment to dignitaries

Amritsar, September 1
The spiritual leader of Tibet, his Holiness, the Dalai Lama, the Governor of Haryana, Mr A.R. Kidwai, and the great grandson of Sufi Saint Baba Farid, Nawab Habib Jung Bahadur, were today meted out shoddy treatment by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), organisers of the historic Guru Granth Sahib’s 400th year of installation.

Nawab Habib Jung Bahadur talking to The Tribune expressed deep anguish at the poor arrangements to escort the dignitaries who had been invited by the SGPC to address the august gathering. Nawab Jung Bahadur said he was the personal guest of Andhra Pradesh Governor Surjit Singh Barnala and had been escorted by his personal staff.

Parkash Utsav celebrations begin
Manohar Prabhakar
Tribune News Service

Jaipur, September 1
Marked by day-and-night continuous kirtans, special diwans, langars and profuse illumination of gurdwaras, the year-long celebrations to mark of the 400th installation anniversary of Guru Granth Sahib have started in the pink city. The Vasundhara Raje Government has announced a public holiday today.

The oldest gurdwara located in Chaura Rasta (SMS highway) in Jaipur bears testimony to the fact that Sikh craftsmen had been commissioned by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh when he founded this beautiful city in 1727 AD.

Out of the eight gurdwaras of Jaipur, Gurdwara Maiyya, established over 40 years ago at Gurunanakpura in Adarsh Nagar, is unique as it is entirely managed by devout Sikh women.