Dera chief pardon: SGPC urges Sikhs to accept Akal Takht move

Chandigarh, Sep 26 (PTI) Amidst strong objection by Sikh leaders

to the pardon granted to Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim

Singh by the Sikh faith's highest temporal seat, SGPC today urged

the community to accept the decision, saying that the Akal Takht's

supremacy cannot be challenged.

"As Sikhs, we cannot challenge the supremacy of Akal Takht. When

five Sikh priests at Akal Takht take any decision, every Sikh has

to abide by it.

"I urge the Sikh community that we should accept the Akal Takht

decision (to pardon Dera head)," Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee

(SGPC), President, Avtar Singh Makkar said today.

Seeking to put behind a bitter row, Akal Takht had on September

24 said it has pardoned Gurmeet Ram Rahim following a letter of apology

from him. The Dera chief is accused of hurting the sentiments of

Sikhs by attiring himself as the tenth Sikh Guru, Gobind Singh.

Sikh organisations like the All India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF),

Bhai Mohkam Singh's United Akali Dal and Dal Khalsa, too, have criticised

the decision.

The Dera Sacha Sauda chief was in 2007 accused by the Sikh clergy

of attiring himself as the tenth Sikh Guru during a religious congregation

of the sect. Violent clashes had broken out between Dera followers

and Sikhs in parts of Punjab at the time.