Sikh community unhappy with appointment of non-Sikh as Nanded gurdwara administrator, claims board member

Aurangabad, August 7

There is “discontent” among Sikhs after someone from outside the community was appointed administrator of the Takhat Sachkhand Shri Hazur Abchalnagar Sahib in Nanded in Maharashtra, a board member of the revered gurdwara said on Monday.

It is one of the five High Seats of Authority of the Sikhs and was built between 1830 and 1839.

The Maharashtra government last week appointed Nanded collector Abhijit Raut, a non-Sikh, as its administrator, which drew condemnation from board member Ravinder Singh Bungai.

“We have an objection to Collector Abhijit Raut being made gurdwara administrator. We don’t take a single rupee as fund from the government, nor have we encroached on government land. So why has the government appointed an administrator, that too a non-Sikh,” Bungai told PTI.

He claimed the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) has written to the Maharashtra government over this appointment as it had created “discontent among Sikhs in Nanded and even in Punjab”.

The Devendra Fadnavis government made a change in the rules in 2014 and decided to nominate an administrator for the gurdwara, and such interference from the government has not been liked by people, he said.

He said a petition had been filed earlier in court for continuing the old board or to restore the system of electing its president.

Meanwhile, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal has also objected the appointment of a non-Sikh person as an administrator of the gurdwara board of Takht Sri Hazur Abchalnagar Sahib.

The appointment of a non-Sikh as administrator of the sacred Takht Sachkhand Sri Hazur Abchalnagar Sahib is part of a dangerous ideological assault on the separate Sikh identity. This is a continuation of the persistent attacks and interference in the internal religious affairs… pic.twitter.com/UhukjfWcAL

— Sukhbir Singh Badal (@officeofssbadal) August 7, 2023

Badal called it “a part of a dangerous ideological assault on separate Sikh identity.” “This is a continuation of the persistent attacks on and interference in the internal religious affairs of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC).”

In separate letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Badal called for immediate reversal of the decision and sought appointment of a fully practising Sikh from among the bureaucrats as the administrator.