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Amritsar, Sep 18 (IANS) The Akal Takht, the supreme temporal seat of Sikhs, on Friday held the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) accountable for lapses by its officials which caused over 300 copies of the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, to go missing.
Akal Takht's officiating Jathedar, Giani Harpreet Singh, amidst the presence of other High Priests, blamed the the SGPC's executive body for negligence that led to 328 'saroops' or copies of the Guru Granth Sahib to go missing between 2013 and 2015.
The Guru Granth Sahib, considered to be a living guru, can only be printed and distributed by the SGPC, a 100-year-old organisation that manages historical Sikh shrines across the country.
Admitting callousness, SGPC President Gobind Singh Longowal submitted a public apology. Also SGPC officials, comprising Longowal, did a 'parikrama' (circumnavigation) of the Golden Temple while reciting 'waheguru jaap'.
Under the punishment pronounced from the Akal Takht podium, the SGPC executive body was barred from participating in religious or public programmes till October 17.
They can however attend the annual budget session scheduled for September 28.
Also, the SGPC executive members were directed to sweep the street leading to the holiest of Sikh shrines, Harmandir Sahib, popularly known as Golden Temple, from Gurdwara Saragarhi Niwas daily for three days.
--IANS
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