Jathedar Joginder Singh Vedanti Forced to Resign by Badal-Controlled SGPC

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 14, 2008 – Akal Takht Jathedar Joginder Singh Vedanti, who recently endorsed Khalistan, was forced to resign on August 4 by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC.) The SGPC promptly and unilaterally appointed Gurbachan Singh, head granthi at Darbar Sahib, as the Takht’s acting Jathedar.

Although he officially resigned “due to health reasons”, Panthic Weekly reported that “Later, addressing a group of press reporters, Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti alleged that he was forced to step down from the position at Akal Takht Sahib. Vedanti alleged that he was asked to step down for ‘ill-health’ or face expulsion — over which he had no control.” Avtar Makkar, the chairman of the SGPC, denied putting pressure on Jathedar Vedanti to resign. “One of them is lying,” said Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan. “The Akalis have a long record of corruption and cooperation with the enemies of the Panth, so we can safely conclude that Mr. Makkar is the one who is lying,” he said.

Speaking at a parade in New York on April 26, Jathedar Vedanti said that “Khalistan is essential for the survival of the Sikh nation.” He joins former Jathedars Bhai Ranjit Singh and Professor Darshan Singh in supporting freedom for Khalistan. Former Jathedar Professor Darshan Singh has said that “if a Sikh is not for Khalistan he is not a Sikh.” The SGPC also forced Bhai Ranjit Singh out as Akal Takht Jathedar.

Jathedar Vedanti also has been critical of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), the Hindu nationalist organization that is the parent organization of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the political ally of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s Shiromani Akali Dal. The RSS was formed in support of the Fascist movement in India and has falsely claimed that Sikhism is a part of the Hindu religion. It has also published booklets on how to implicate Christians and other minorities in false criminal cases.

“Parkash Badal is using the SGPC to advance the agenda of his Hindutva masters who want to eliminate the Sikh religion from the face of the Earth,” said Dr. Aulakh. “With the forced removal of Jathedar Vedanti, Badal has once again shown himself to be a traitor to the Sikh Nation,” Dr. Aulakh said. “The traitors of the Sikh Nation will not be forgiven by the Khalsa Panth. They have been exposed by this action against Jathedar Vedanti and against the Sikh Nation.”

Dr. Aulakh attacked the unilateral selection of the new Jathedar by the SGPC and demanded that the Sikh Sangat be allowed to select the Jathedar. “The continued interference of the Badal family and the SAD with the Akal Takht and every other power center in Punjab, Khalistan is dangerous for Sikhs and all who love freedom,” Dr. Aulakh said. “Badal is a puppet, completely under the control of the Indian government and its anti-Sikh, anti-minority agenda. What he controls, radical Hindu enemies of the Sikhs control,” Dr. Aulakh said. “The Sikh diaspora and Sikhs back in Punjab, Khalistan must unite and remove traitorous, corrupt, pro-India sellouts from all positions of power in our homeland.”

“At least Jathedar Vedanti left office in a better way than Jathedar Kaunke,” said Dr. Aulakh. Fformer Jathedar of the Akal Takht Gurdev Singh Kaunke was murdered by SSP Swaran Singh Ghotna. Ghotna has never been brought to trial for the Jathedar Kaunke murder and the Indian government has never released Jathedar Kaunke’s body.

India has murdered over 250,000 Sikhs since 1984, according to figures compiled by the Punjab State Magistracy and human-rights groups and reported in the book The Politics of Genocide by Inderjeet Singh Jaijee. It has also killed over 90,000 Kashmiri Muslims since 1988, 2,000 to 5,000 Muslims in Gujarat, more than 300,000 Christians in Nagaland since 1947, and thousands of Christians and Muslims elsewhere in the country, as well as tens of thousands of Assamese, Bodos, Dalits (“Untouchables,” the dark-skinned aboriginal people of South Asia), Manipuris, Tamils, and other minorities. The Indian Supreme Court called the Indian government's murders of Sikhs "worse than a genocide."

According to a report by the Movement Against State Repression (MASR), 52,268 Sikhs are being held as political prisoners in India without charge or trial. Some have been in illegal custody since 1984! Amnesty International reported that tens of thousands of other minorities are also being held as political prisoners. We demand the immediate release of all these political prisoners.

Indian police arrested human-rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra after he exposed their policy of mass cremation of Sikhs, in which over 50,000 Sikhs have been arrested, tortured, and murdered, then their bodies were declared unidentified and secretly cremated. He was murdered in police custody. His body was not given to his family. No one has been brought to justice for the kidnapping and murder of Jaswant Singh Khalra. Khalra was the General Secretary of the Human Rights Wing of the Shiromani Akali Dal. “The government kidnapped and murdered one of Badal’s own people and he is so enslaved by the Indian regime that he did not even criticize it,” Dr. Aulakh said.

“Only a sovereign, independent Khalistan will end the repression and lift the standard of living for the people of Punjab,” Dr. Aulakh said. “Jathedar Vedanti realized this and spoke out for freedom for the Sikh Nation and it cost him his job,” Dr. Aulakh said. “We must continue to press for our God-given birthright of freedom,” he said. “Without political power, religions cannot flourish and nations perish,” Dr. Aulakh said. “The removal of Jathedar Vedanti simply underlines the fact that the time to free Khalistan is now.”

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This material is circulated by the Council of Khalistan, which is registered with the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Washington, DC under the Foreign Agents Registration Act as an agent of the Council of Khalistan, Golden Temple, Amritsar, Punjab. The material is filed with the DOJ where the required registration is available for inspection. Registration does not indicate approval of the contents by the U.S. Government.