Punjab Assembly Clears Bill For Free Telecast Of Gurbani From Golden Temple

Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann said the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023 will pave the way "for eliminating the undue control of 'Modern Day Masands' over the free-to-air telecast of the sacred Gurbani".

New Delhi/Amritsar: The Punjab Assembly on Tuesday passed a bill introduced by the AAP government for the free broadcast of sacred Gurbani from the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had on Monday said that Gurbani is everyone's right and it should be free of cost. The Punjab Cabinet earlier approved the proposal to amend The Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 and to insert Section 125 A in the Act thereby casting duty on the SGPC to ensure free-to-air live telecast of the Holy Gurbani from Sri Harmandir Sahib. 

Punjab Assembly passes Sikh Gurudwaras (amendment) Bill, 2023. The Bill aimed to make broadcast and telecast of 'Gurbani' from Sri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) free for all, no tender required.

— ANI (@ANI) June 20, 2023

CM Mann earlier said the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023 will pave the way "for eliminating the undue control of 'Modern Day Masands' over the free-to-air telecast of the sacred Gurbani".

Addressing the media after the Cabinet meeting, the Chief Minister said that the amendment has been made with the objective that the entire humanity is able to listen to and see the live telecast of Holy Gurbani free of cost. CM Bhagwant Mann said that this move is aimed at ensuring that Holy Gurbani is not commercialized in any manner. The Chief Minister said that this Act will be called the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Act, 2023 and will come into force on and with effect from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.

He said that in the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925, after section 125, section 125-A will be inserted for the live telecast of Gurbani free of cost. Bhagwant Mann said that the Act stipulates that it will be the duty of the Board to propagate the teachings of the Gurus by making uninterrupted (without any on-screen running advertisements/commercials/distortion) live feed (Audio or Audio as well as Video) of Holy Gurbani from Sri Harmandir Sahib available free of cost to all media houses, outlets, platforms, channels, whoever wishes to broadcast it.

The Chief Minister said that as a humble and devotee Sikh, he is a votary of free-to-air telecast of the Gurbani across the globe. Bhagwant Mann wondered how this was an attack on Panth "as he was just opposing the control of a particular channel over the telecast of Gurbani, which is totally unwarranted and unjustified".

He said that this move is not aimed at giving rights to any particular channel of government or of any single individual but it is aimed at spreading the message of Gurbani across the globe. The Chief Minister asserted that the state government is fully competent to amend this act as the Apex court had already through a judgment ruled that this act is not an inter-state Act.

According to an official release, Bhagwant Mann said that "playing a dirty game this family tried to encash the religious sentiments of Sikhs by giving exclusive rights of telecast of Gurbani to their blue-eyed channel whereas no mention of word telecast or broadcast was there in the Act".

The Chief Minister said that as people wish to listen to Gurbani from Sri Harmandir Sahib so they had to subscribe to this channel. However, he said that "the package of this channel is given along with other channels which is too expensive".

Bhagwant Mann said that SGPC, which was constituted by Sikh Gurudwara Act 1925, was entrusted with the task of spreading the message of Gurbani, but it has forgotten its duty while acting as a stooge in the hands of their master family.

The Chief Minister said that 11 years have passed and the SGPC elections have not taken place in the state. He said that it is surprising that "the acting President of the SGPC is removing the acting Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib just because he is not toeing the line of the master family".

Don't Interfere In Religious Matters, Warns SGPC 

Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami condemned Bhagwant Mann over his remarks that they will amend the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 for free telecast rights of 'Gurbani' from Golden Temple and said that the AAP government in the state is trying to politicise the issue and have no right to make such changes.

"Punjab Government can't interfere in any manner. They don't have the right...They are trying to politicise this and I strongly condemn this. I urge Bhagwant Mann to not do anything like this," Dhami told ANI.

Dhami, who also addressed a press conference, said changes in the Act can only be made by Parliament and a resolution pertaining to a proposed change is passed by SGPC. Leaders from Shiromani Akali Dal and Congress said that the state government is not entitled to make such changes. Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former Punjab Education Minister Daljeet Cheema said the move is unconstitutional.