Chandigarh, February 17: Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami has resigned from his post.
Dhami’s resignation came days after Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh strongly condemned the dismissal of services of Giani Harpreet Singh as the jathedar of Damdama Sahib by the SGPC.
In a hurriedly called media briefing, Dhami said he is always committed to the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs.
Dhami has demanded that he also be removed from the seven-member committee formed by the Shiromani Akali Dal. He has submitted his resignation to the SGPC executive committee.
Referring to a February 13 Facebook post of Jathedar Raghbir Singh on the termination of services of Giani Harpreet Singh, Dhami said he wrote that removing the latter was “highly condemnable” and “unfortunate”.
“I being ‘pardhan’ (president of SGPC) take responsibility and resign from the post on moral grounds with immediate effect,” he said while addressing the media in Amritsar.
Dhami also said he has written to the Akal Takht Jathedar to relieve him from his position in the seven-member committee formed to supervise the new membership drive of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).
On February 13, Giani Raghbir Singh in a Facebook post condemned the dismissal of services of Harpreet Singh as the jathedar of Takht Sri Damdama Sahib in Bathinda.
In the post, he said Giani Harpreet Singh’s removal was “highly condemnable” and “unfortunate” which will harm the independent existence of the ‘Takht Sahibs’.
On December 10, the SGPC had dismissed the services of Giani Harpreet Singh as the jathedar of Takht Sri Damdama Sahib in Bathinda.
The decision was taken during an executive committee meeting of the SGPC.
A Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate, Dhami was re-elected as the president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) consecutively for the fourth time with a convincing win over former “dissident” SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur for the next annual term 2024-2025.
Summary: Harjinder Singh Dhami resigned as SGPC chief citing moral grounds, following controversy over the dismissal of Giani Harpreet Singh as Jathedar.