Sikh leaders seek Akal Takht meet over Joshi's remarks

NEW DELHI: Sikh religious leaders here on Sunday made an appeal to the Akal Takht to convene a meeting of top five clerics over what they alleged were RSS attempts to
portray their faith as part of Hinduism.
 
Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) chief Paramjit Singh Sarna condemned senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi's comments reported in Sangh mouthpiece Organiser that what Guru Gobind Singh preached was no different from the
message of Vedas and Upnishads.

 Sarna, a fierce critic of Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, also cited an RSS statement posted on its Website that Sikhs are part of the Hindu samaj. "Guru Gobind Singh's ideology was unique and completely different from Vedas or Upnishads. Such comparisons are highly objectionable and condemnable and we appeal to the Akal Takht to take strong note of them and call a meeting of the five Singh Sahibans (clerics) to work out a response to this continuous propaganda," he remarked.
 
In his comments, senior SGPC member Harinder Pal Singh also denounced Joshi's remarks.  "Those who make such comments are trying to further a set agenda," he said.
 
There is a dispute over many portions of the Dasam Granth, or the collective writings of Guru Gobind Singh, with a large number of Sikh scholars saying they were not authored
by him because they are themed on "avtaarvaad", or incarnation, a concept rejected in the faith.

 The issue is pending before the Akal Takht, the highest seat of Sikh temporal authority, over the past many years