Amritsar (AsiaNews) The "Vatican" of the Sikh religion yesterday banned rallies, protests and clashes near its temples to "preserve their sanctity" and to "pave the way towards peace". Leaders of the Sikh clergy also invited Muslims and Hindus to do likewise, to "open a new chapter of religious harmony and solidarity among men".
The decision was taken by the highest-ranking preachers of Sikhism, who met in Akal Takht one of their most venerated places of worship to stop "those political figures who use their religion to inflame the population, by protesting or holding meetings near Sikh gurudwaras [the "way of the gurus", that is, temples]."
The head of Akal Takht, Jathedar Giani Joginder Singh Vidanti, and other influential religious leaders were among participants who said the ban was prompted by the "desire not to mar the spiritual aura of our places of worship with political activities: from now on, only religious rallies will be allowed near our temples."
After the meeting, the Sikh priests issued a joint statement to say that the "decision applies not only to India but to Sikh temples around the world. It would be wonderful if leaders of religions like Islam and Hinduism also took decisions like ours. It would usher a new chapter of religious harmony and human solidarity."
Granthi Nayab Singh, a Sikh priest from Punjab, told AsiaNews: "This decision is a revolutionary one and would end the growing trend among certain politicians to misuse religion as a pretext to stage social protests, which hide vested interests that have nothing to do with spirituality."
The reference is especially to movements in 1984 that were fomented by a Sikh leader who was calling for Punjab's independence from Delhi. Protests culminated in the murder of the premier Indira Gandhi by two of her Sikh bodyguards.
The Hindu majority took their revenge by killing around 3,000 civilians and damaging one of the central places of worship of Sikhism, the Golden Temple of Amritsar.
