Calling it ‘sacrilege’, the Sikh clergy in Amritsar has issued a diktat to its global community not to buy copies of the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of Sikhs, which is now being published in China and made available, online.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), responsible for the administration of Sikhism’s holiest shrine, The Golden Temple has registered a case against the US-based website sikhlink.com for hurting the religious sentiments by selling hard and online copies of Guru Granth Sahib and sacred poems called Japji Sahib.
Its secretary Manjit Singh said only the SGPC is authorised to print and publish Guru Granth Sahib, in Gurmukhi script.
The Sunday Star reported that controversy over the Guru Granth Sahib come in the wake of China-made kirpans (dagger) and Guru Nanak Dev’s idols with ‘Chinese characteristics’ flooding shops across Punjab, India.
The highest temporal seat of the Sikhs, Akal Takht, has termed it an act of sacrilege and issued directions to the global community not to purchase these copies in any form, while the SGPC plans to take up the matter with the Chinese ambassador.
The diktat was issued by the head priest or Jathedar of the Akal Takht after devotees based in USA and Canada, complained vie emails about the offers on the homepage of the website (sikhlink.com).
The Sunday Star said there are two icons on the website — Japji Sahib (a sacred hymn) and Palki Sahib; one can click on Japji Sahib and order the copy for free and on Palki Sahib to donate up to $220.
There is also a link, ‘free books’, that redirects to another address, sikhbookclub.com, where there are many religious books available in English, Hindi and Punjabi for downloading. There are books on Guru Nanak, Guru Angad, Guru Ram Das, Guru Amar Das, Guru Arjan Dev, Guru Hargobind, Guru Harkrishan, Guru Tegh Bahadur, Guru Gobind Sahib and a dictionary about Guru Granth Sahib.
The complainants said they had contacted this website were told that the Holy book will be delivered to them from China as it is being published there.
SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar said, “The case was registered based on whatever information was provided to us by the Sikh devotes in the US and Canada. It needs to be investigated so that clarity can come out who is publishing and who is selling.”’’
Meanwhile, the SGPC is set to raise the matter at a diplomatic level. “We will give a formal complaint to the Chinese ambassador, asking for a probe and details of the publisher,” Makkar said.
In the past, certain private publishing houses have been summoned to the Akal Takht for printing the scripture. In 2007, rampant sale of made-in-China Guru Nank dev idols at had prompted the Sikh clergy to issue directions to the community to refrain from buying them.
 Dr Prithpal Singh co-ordinator of American Sikh Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee (ASGPC) said, “The  Guru Granth Sahib is the holy book which should be published under the control of SGPC as it has a set procedure and decorum.”