Dera visit row: Akal Takht awards ‘tankhah’ to 40 Sikh leaders

Amritsar : Five Sikh high priests on Monday pronounced ‘tankhah’ (religious punishment) on 40 Sikh leaders belonging to SAD, Congress and AAP, who violated Akal Takht’s ‘hukumnama’ by seeking political support from the Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda.
Four leaders, including Rajinder Kaur Bhattal (Congress), Janmeja Singh Sekhon (SAD), Ajaib Singh Bhatti (Congress) and Arjan Singh Badal (Congress), who could not turn up sent their excuse to the Akal Takht.
The SGPC was asked to probe the matter and gather requisite proofs. On the basis of report submitted by the SGPC panel, the under-question leaders were classified into two categories — Gursikhs and Patits (those who believe in Guru Granth Sahib but seldom observe the principle of Khalsa code of conduct).
While the 18 ‘Patit’ leaders were asked to perform sewa for 10 days (1 hour every day) at the gurdwaras located in the vicinity of their constituencies as atonement, the 21 ‘Gursikh’ leaders were made to stand at the designated podium on the ground floor of Akal Takht and were awarded ‘tankhah’.
They were told to sweep the passage leading to the Golden Temple from Gurdwara Saragarhi heading towards the Darshani Deodi and the Ghanta Ghar side main entrance to the Shrine for a day. On another day, they would clean up the whole parikrama of the Golden Temple.
Besides this, they would also perform ‘sewa’ at the Langar Hall and ‘joda’ (cleaning shoes of devotees) for two hours each.