M A I N   N E W S

SGPC panel to review ‘Jo Bole So Nihal’
Varinder Walia
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 14
In a major setback to the sub-committee constituted by Akal Takht which had given ‘clean chit’ to the controversial Hindi film, ‘Jo Bole So Nihal’, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) today constituted a 15-member panel of Sikh intellectuals which would submit its report on the movie on May 19.

Meanwhile , personal prestige of Jathedar Akal Takht has touched its lowest ebb even as various Sikh organisations will hold a Sikh conclave at Akal Takht here tomorrow to take the next course of action . However, Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti , Jathedar Akal Takht, is likely to be out of station to save himself from any embarrassment .

The 15-member panel has representatives from the SGPC, the Sant Samaj , Nihang organisations and other Sikh organisations. Earlier, bowing to the pressure of the outrage of the community over giving ‘clean chit’ to the controversial film, Jathedar Akal Takht had written to the SGPC chief to form a panel to look into the contents of the film.

This was for the first time that the SGPC had to form yet another panel after the report on the movie had been submitted by the sub-committee of the Akal Takht. The report by the previous panel had made the position of Jathedar Vedanti awkward. Many senior leaders of the Sikh organisations had even sought immediate resignation of Jathedar Akal Takht . The role of non-official Personal Assistant to Jathedar Akal Takht had already come under scanner. Earlier also, the SGPC chief had raised serious objections over the title of the film which had been ignored by the panel formed by Jathedar Akal Takht.

Meanwhile, the Sikh Legal Forum levelled serious charges against Jathedar Vedanti for playing a ‘dubious role’ which helped in the release of the film. The forum alleged that stay could not be obtained on the film from the Punjab and Haryana High Court following submission of ‘clean chit’ by the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs . Mr Hardip Singh Mohali , an SGPC member who had filed a writ petition in the High Court said that ‘Jo Bole So Nihal ‘ was a war cry of the Sikhs and hence could not be used in Hindi ‘masala’ films.

Firing a salvo against Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, for failing to stop the release of the movie, ‘Jo Bole So Nihal’, Sikh groups had decided to launch a frontal attack against the subtle intervention of the state government in the religious affairs of the Sikhs. Sikh leaders rapped the Panjab Government by reiterating that the movie was an attempt to ridicule and humiliate the Sikhs and their faith.

Reacting to the lathi charge and arrest of Sikh youths in various parts of Panjab, the Sikh leaders accused the state Chief Minister of not disciplining the police and misusing the state machinery to appease his friend-cum-liquor baron Ponty Chadha, the distributor of the controversial film ‘Jo bole So Nihal’.

In a strongly-worded statement Charan Singh Lohara of Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) , Rajinder Singh of Shiromani Khalsa Panchayat, Kanwarpal Singh and Sarbjit Singh Ghuman of Dal Khalsa, Dalbir Singh of Khalra Action Committee, Major Singh of Shiromani Khalsa Dal, Jaspal Singh Manjpur of Sikh Students Federation and Balwant Singh Menia of International Dharam Parchar Council condemned the role and functioning of the state police.

Considering the movie, ‘Jo Bole So Nihal’, as a direct insult to Sikhs, the parties unanimously reaffirmed their resolve to continue with the campaign to stop the exhibition of the film in Panjab and everywhere else.

The leaders also continued their tirade against Jathedar Joginder Singh Vedanti, Jathedar of Akal Takht Sahib.