New Delhi, October 21
Adding further fuel to the controversy over the printing of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) has decided to print the holy book either in the US or Canada.

The move is symbolic of its strong defiance to the Amritsar-based Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee’s (SGPC) decision seeking a ban on the printing and sale of the holy scripture.

Following the printing of the Guru Granth Sahib by a private publisher in Amritsar which took a violent turn, the SGPC had got an ordinance issued by the Punjab government recently that, “ no private publishers can print the holy book as they rarely observe the ‘Sikh mariyada’.

However, the DSGMC, presently held by the Akalis opposed to the Badal-led Akali Dal, did not subscribe to the SGPC’s approach on the issue.

Opposing the SGPC-sponsored ordinance, the DSGMC asserted its right to print copies of the holy book and announced it would get ‘Birs’ printed either in the US or Canada.

The DSGMC also took to the plea that carrying a copy of the holy book from here to abroad often involved violation of the ‘Sikh mariyada’.

But, according to sources, the DSGMC took this step to neutralise the SGPC’s accusations against its president Paramjit Singh Sarna that he gave 100 copies of the holy book to an Okhla-based Delhi company here for exporting them abroad and the company packed the copies in containers like other exportable commodities.

The SGPC has already set up a five-member committee to inquire into the DSGMC’s alleged laxity in handing over the copies to an exporter who allegedly violated the ‘Sikh mariyada’ thereby hurting the sentiments of the community.

The committee is likely to send its findings to the Akal Takht Jathedar for taking action against the DSGMC president. — UNI