SGPC, Sikh Book Club at loggerheads over printing of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

SGPC has appealed to Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib to take strict action against a person associated with the Sikh Book Club, who has committed an "unacceptable act" by adding extra lagan-matravan (punctuations of Gurmukhi) and bindis (dots) by changing the original verses of Gurbani.

Representational Image (Credits: Twitter)

Amritsar: The Sikh Book Club has rebutted the objections raised by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee (SGPC) against them and has said that SGPC has no authority to restrict the global printing and distribution of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. 

The propaganda that is being spread by the SGPC is an attempt to monopolize the printing and distribution of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, Sikh Book Club, a US-based organisation, said. 

In a press release, the Sikh Book Club said, "Should the SGPC not agree with the version of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji found on SikhBookClub.com, they can choose not to use it."

The Club added that it is propaganda that is being spread by the SGPC to monopolize the printing and distribution of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. 

It is notable that on Thursday (March 24, 2022), SGPC President Harjinder Singh Dhami had appealed to Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib to take strict action against Thaminder Singh Anand, associated with the Sikh Book Club, who had uploaded the concerned objectionable saroop at sikhbookclub.com.  

The SGPC president also claimed that the person has committed an "unacceptable act" by adding extra lagan-matravan (punctuations of Gurmukhi) and bindis (dots) by changing the original verses of Gurbani. 

"No one has the right to distort or tamper with the holy Gurbani and nobody can print the holy saroops of Sri Guru Granth Sahib by themselves. The sentiments of Sikhs have been hurt by USA resident and Sri Akal Takht Sahib should take exemplary action," Dhami had said. 

Anand, however, said that “when handwritten copies of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib were converted to printed copies, numerous grammatical mistakes were made by several institutions including the SGPC and on numerous occasions, the SGPC themselves admitted to these grammatical errors in their printings of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji and provided two reports with their findings."

"The grammatical changes that were made to the version of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib published at SikhBookClub.com, were to address the above-mentioned mistakes and are consistent with the findings of the SGPC and no alterations or modifications of the Guru’s bani has taken place," he said. 

Dhami, notably, had also said that Thaminder Singh Anand had been earlier booked under Section 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on the complaint of SGPC in 2014, for printing and distributing by post the holy saroops of Sri Guru Granth Sahib from China and that he has once again hurt the Sikh sentiments.