The War Of Unaccounted Ads

The advertisement published in Punjabi Tribune on July 19 had Dhokha – betrayal- written seven times on top in bold. Issued by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), Amritsar, the headline of the advertisement read, Hooda Government Betrays Sikh Community, and claimed that funds meant for Gurudwaras were being siphoned off to the Haryana government’s coffers.

The Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (HSGPC) – the SGPC’s adversary –  took a while to respond. When it  finally did on July 29, it was through an advertisement too. The advertisement published in the Indian Express categorically refuted the SGPC’s allegations.

The  very next day, the SGPC shot back again. This time, through advertisements in the Indian Express and Hindustan Times, where the SGCP didn’t make any direct references to the HSGCP but instead asked the Sikh community to follow the Akal Takht’s guidelines.

The current skirmish is a result of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwaras (Management) Act passed by the Haryana state government in July, 2014 – the result of which led to the formation of the HSGPC. The SGPC, which  was constituted under the Sikh Gurdwara Act, passed by the Punjab Council in 1925, mandates the SGPC to manage all gurudwaras in the country.

The SGPC, therefore, considers the HSGP illegal.

Ever since the act was passed, the SGPC and the HSGPC have been at loggerheads – and most of the drama has played out on newspaper advertisements.

However, there seems to be no clarity on who’s paying for these advertisements.

Is money donated to gurdwaras by devotees being misused by the SGPC to fight what is essentially a political battle? Or is the Haryana government using taxpayers’ money to achieve public approval of a bill passed by them?

Satinder Singh, personal assistant to the SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar, strangely claimed ignorance, saying that he didn’t know of these advertisements.

The HSGPC could not be reached for comments.

Clearly, some questions have answers no one wants to voice. Also, the SGPC and the HSGPC should perhaps realise that  rhetorical newspaper advertisements are not the best form of discourse.