AMRITSAR: The officiating Akal Takht Jathedar, Giani Harpreet Singh, on Monday expressed concern over the increase in number of "churches and mosques" in the border belt of Punjab, and spoke of the need to keep youth away from the scourge of drugs as well as the importance of Sikh youth getting the best education. While delivering his message from the Akal Takht on the 38th anniversary of Operation Bluestar, he also spoke about training the youth in Sikh martial art and heritage weapons and rapped Russia - which had reportedly supported Operation Bluestar - for "still fighting a tiny country".
Pointing out that "churches and mosques have come up in every second village of Punjab", he urged the Sikh preachers to visit the border areas to promote Sikhism and apprise the youth about the rich Sikh tenets and history.
Set up Gatka academies in gurdwaras: Jathedar
We need to understand that if we are weak on the religious front, we will not be strong on economic and social fronts and then politically also, we will be weakened," he said.
Harpreet Singh also exhorted the Sikhs to be highly educated so that they are at par with Jew economists and rule the world economies. The Jathedar said the Sikhs have been blessed with the determination of Raj (sovereignty) from the time of Gurus (masters), which Sikhs still reiterate in their daily 'ardas' as 'Raj Karega Khalsa'. He asked the gurdwara managements and Sikh institutions to set up Gatka academies or Gatka Akharas in Gurdwara complexes and institutions on the lines of Mal Akharas set up by Guru Angad Dev at Khadoor Sahib. "There is nothing wrong in even setting up modern shooting ranges...," he said.
He said those who had attacked the Golden Temple, or a country like Russia which had helped the then government in attacking the Golden Temple, had been destroyed." Look at a country like Russia still fighting one of the tiniest countries. Unless they bow before Guru, no one can save them from disintegrating or breaking," he said.
Attacking the policies of successive governments, he claimed that when India attained freedom in 1947, the then leader Jawarhar Lal Nehru had allegedly "formulated a policy to suppress the Sikhs and to make them a religiously, politically and socially weak community". There was heavy security in place inside and outside Golden Temple, with several male and female police personnel in civvies being deployed at different places. Meanwhile, a handful of hardliners including a few females raised slogans in support of Khalistan.
