The SGPC did not invite many people for the function. In fact, the function was originally scheduled to take place on Friday and was preponed without any apparent reason.
Sikh body unveils his portrait at the Golden Temple museum
CHANDIGARH: While victims of anti-Sikh riots in 1984 have been protesting the inability of the government to help them, the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabadak Committee chose to extol the controversial role of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and install his portrait in the Sikh Museum in the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
The SGPC did not invite many people for the function. In fact, the function was originally scheduled to take place on Friday and was preponed without any apparent reason.
Sources said the SGPC wanted to keep it a low-key affair in order to keep off radical elements who were expected to create ruckus on the occasion. There have been reports about the radical Sikhs demanding that the portrait of Bhindranwale should show him carrying revolver and other traditional weapons. Spokesman of the Damdami Taksal, which was headed by Bhindranwale, and convener of the Khalsa Action Committee Bhai Mohkam Singh, who was also invited to the function, expressed surprise over advancing the date without any information. It was the KAC that had been spearheading the demand for the installation of the portrait.
Though the Jathedar of Akal Takht Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti, SGPC chief Avtar Singh and the son of Bhindranwale were present at the function, the SGPC deliberately ignored radical Sikhs to avoid any controversy.
After unveiling the portrait, Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti, Jathedar Akal Takht appreciated the SGPC for taking the initiative, describing Bhindranwale a “great martyr” of the Sikh community, who made “supreme sacrifice” for the sake of “faith”. The SGPC and Jathedar Akal Takht described him as the “greatest Sikh warrior of the 20th century”.
The SGPC chief, in a written statement, said the Shiromani Committee had been endeavouring to preserve the memories of the Sikh warriors, like Bhindranwale so that coming generations could get “inspiration”.
The Central Sikh museum, displaying the origin and growth of Sikh religion through several artifacts, is part of the Golden Temple and SGPC complex. Established on July 11, 1958, the Museum is housed on the second floor of temple’s entrance. The museum contains a number of exhibits that include important religious documents, old coins, paintings, weapons used by great Sikh warriors and many other things relating to the Sikh history.
It also has paintings of Sikh Gurus, saints, Sikh warriors and other prominent Sikh leaders who contributed to the propagation of Sikhism and spread of Sikhism. The museum’s painting gallery has many pictures from the 13th century.
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