Amritsar: Challenging the authority of Sikhism's highest religious body, several Sikh organisations came together and held a Sarbat Khalsa on the outskirts of Amritsar, triggering fears of a revival of the Khalistan movement. The conclave chose former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh's assassin, Jagtar Singh Hawara, as the jathedar (head priest) of the Akal Takht, the supreme temporal seat of Sikhism in the Golden Temple complex.
The parallel conclave was predictably opposed by SGPC, the all-powerful, cash-rich body that controls most gurdwaras in north India and is the final arbiter of the faith. It insisted that a Sarbat Khalsa can be called only by the Akal Takht jathedar at the Golden Temple. The Sarbat Khalsa was opposed by the SGPC and Punjab's ruling party, the Shiromani Akali Dal-Badal (SAD-B), which draws legitimacy as a party representing Sikh interests.
The SAD-B and the SGPC insisted that the conclave had no authority as it was not held according to Sikh tradition. SGPC chief Avatar Singh Makkar said a Sarbat Khalsa could be called only by the Akal Takht jathedar at the Golden Temple complex.
The conclave, however, threatened to take its challenge forward by organising another Sarbat Khalsa in the spring of 2016. While reading out the resolutions, president of United Akali Dal Mohkam Singh announced that they had appointed Hawara, currently in jail for masterminding the assassination of Beant Singh in 1995, as the jathedar of the Akal Takht following which the gathering loudly applauded the decision. Former Lok Sabha MP of SAD (Amritsar) from Ferozepur Dhian Singh Mand was asked to hold the office in his absence.
