Global Sikh Nation Guided By Sovereign Miri-Piri Institution of Sri Akal Takht Sahib
Sirdar Kapur Singh wrote that Darbar Sahib complex []]including Sr Akal Takht Sahib] is the capital of Sikh theocracy []]rule guided by religious principles] but it is very much more**.
The other important aspect is that Sikhi has no ordained priestly class and, therefore, there can be no theocratic political state of the Sikhs in which the priests rule in the name of an invisible God. They have no corpus of civil law of divine origin and sanction and they, therefore, must have a state based on secular non-theocratic laws**.
It follows that, wherever the Sikhs live, including Panjab, they will back any state based on secular just laws. That must be a state where there is secular democratic rule of law which protects the rights of all citizens without distinction. Where the rights of minorities are protected. Regarding these matters, the global Sikhs will be guided by the sovereign Institution of Sri Akal Takht Sahib served and defended (seva-sambhal) by the Khalsa Panth.
The concept of Sikhs as a global nation makes eminent sense in the modern world. Organisational aspects of such a nation, with Sri Guru Granth Sahib as the Constitution, can be worked out. The guiding central Authority of the Sikh nation is Sri Akal Takht Sahib. By tradition, it is geographically located in Darbar Sahib Complex. The foundation is built on thousands of Sikh sacrifices.
Sirdar Kapur Singh argued that the Sikhs have a well-earned historical right to the location and its independence from outside political or legal control. The rule of Maharaja Ranjit Singh did not include Darbar Sahib complex. The same goes for Delhi rule and law. Sikh tradition to-date shows that when the independence of the Takht is challenged, the Panth has risen to take back control. That process has been going on for decades and the current crisis is part of it.
Therefore, firstly Sikhs will always assert the sovereign status of the Takht. They will only accept any direction from the Takht which is truly based on the Guidance of the Guru (Gurbani) as interpreted by the collective Khalsa Panth. The sevadars at the Takht (called jathedars) deliberate on Gurmat Guidance applicable to the circumstances. That is the process of this sovereign Institution, the Takht of the Timeless Being. The authority of the Jathedars derives from their role.
Like policy civil servants, the Jathedars second-guess the wishes of the Higher Authority, in their case, the Guru Granth and Panth. In government the policy civil servants are doing this all the time where the Authority is the ministers (government). Otherwise, like the civil servants, the Takht sevadars or jathedars, have no powers of their own. Yet, the respect they derive from their highest role in the Khalsa Panth, is great.
What happens when the jathedars fail in their duty to ascertain the wishes of Guru and the Panth, has been well illustrated in recent times. For example, in the Sauda Saadh case the Takht Jathedar was removed due to the reaction from the Panth. Sooner or later, those who defy the Will of the Guru Granth and Panth as proclaimed from the Institution of the Takht, are rejected by the Panth.
Those who have defied the Hukamnama of 2 December 2024, surely await that fate in due course.
** The Golden Temple []]Darbar Sahib]: Its Theo-Political Status (Dharam Parchar Committee 1988 and, earlier, The Sikh Review (Kolkata) August 1974.)
Gurmukh Singh OBE
Principal Civil Servant retd (UK)
E-mail: sewauk2005@yahoo.co.uk
Sikh ideology articles: https://www.sikhmissionarysociety.org/