FORMER AKAL Takht Jathedar Bhai Ranjit Singh today challenged the definition of Sehajdhari and “patit” Sikhs submitted in the Punjab and Haryana High Court by the SGPC after “wrong denying admission to an eligible candidate under the Sikh quote”.
“A Sehajdhari Sikh is a person who adopts the Sikh way of life by choice and also grows hair and beard,” Bhai Ranjit Singh said, quoting the “Mahan Kosh” authored by noted Sikh scholar kahan Singh Nabha.
Speaking to HT, he said all those born in Sikh families but trimming hair, beard or eyebrows were “Nanak naam leva” Sikhs and not ‘patit’, as” mischievously” construed by the SGPC in its politically motivated” definition of Sehajdhari Sikhs.
He claimed the term “patit” was used for those who after joining the purest form of Sikhism through baptism violated one of the mandatory five requirements. Those who after baptism continued to live with spouses who were not baptized also fell in the category of “patit”, he added.
Bhai Ranjit Singh said admissions under the Sikh minority quote should be allowed for “Nanak naam leva” Sikhs, besides the baptized Sikhs, without any bias for caste or region.
However, he was against granting the voting right to Sehajdhari Sikhs in the SGPC polls, as it could be “misused by some anti-Sikh forces”. But they could be given due representation in the Sikh body through cooption, he added.
SOURCE-HT
