- Friday, April 26, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), which looks after the management of gurdwaras, on Monday (23) announced its plan to set up presses abroad to print the holy saroops (copies) of Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book in Sikhism, to meet the long-pending demand of the Sikh diaspora.
In a meeting, the executive committee of the SGPC decided to print the saroops in countries like the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and some other European ones.
“The sangat (devotees) in various countries was demanding holy saroops for the gurdwaras. Keeping this in mind, the decision of setting up printing presses was taken after a thorough discussion,” SGPC president Jagir Kaur after the meeting, according to reports.
Under an edict issued by the Akal Takht in 1998, the rights of printing the saroops were reserved with the SGPC and any other institution seeking to do it had to take permission of the body.
Recently, the printing of saroops in Surrey, Canada, in defiance of Akal Takht’s edict had irked Sikhs who feared changes in the copies.
“The decision was taken due to the problems faced while sending the holy saroops abroad. Now, the printing will be carried out under the supervision of the SGPC in different countries,” Kaur said, adding that arrangements will also be made to send the saroops to various states in India by road.
The SGPC has also decided to install a portrait of slain American Sikh police officer Sandeep Singh Dhaliwal who was gunned down while on duty during a traffic stop in Houston, Texas, in 2019, in the Central Sikh Museum in the shrine complex, Kaur said, according to Hindustan Times. The body also announced to give Rs 10 lakh to raise a memorial of Dhaliwal at his native village in the northern Indian state of Punjab.
Portraits of Nankhana Sahib massacre (1921) martyrs Ishar Singh and Jathedar Amar Singh will also be installed in the museum.
