Giani Gurbachan Singh took 36 years to rise from sewadar to jathedar of the Akal Takht (highest Sikh temporal seat) to which he was installed in Amritsar on Thursday amidst tight security of task force of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee in the periphery of Harmandar Sahib (Golden Temple) at Akal Takht.
The centuries-old Takhat Shri Harmandir Saheb Gurdwara at Patna Saheb, the most revered shrine for Sikhs after the Golden Temple in Amritsar, gets a much-needed facelift just before lakhs of devotees arrive to take part in the 350th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Gobind Singh.
SGPC chief Kirpal Singh Badungar said the community's opinion would be sought on this issue.
We may not be a super military power like the US, but we are the superpower in compassion, love and human values as taught to us by the Bhagavad Gita and the Guru Granth Sahib, says former BJP MP Tarun Vijay.
It is bound to fail like the earlier ones, again causing Pakistan enormously more damage than to India, points out Shekhar Gupta.
The portrait was removed following an objection from NGO Shaheed-e-Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh Youth Front. SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar said the portrait has been removed and the circumstances under which it was installed will be investigated.
'I told them I am a Muslim, you are Sikh, you are Hindu, but we have one country to save.'
The installation of air conditioners inside the temple by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee has invited the wrath of the scholars and conservationists. Conservationists say the unique frescoes and the heritage building are now at 'the mercy of variations in temperature'. The official said the ACs were installed 'on persistent demand' of Surinder Kaur Badal, wife of Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal, as she frequently visits the temple.
Amid apprehensions that Sikh hardliners might object to the customary address by the Akal Takht jathedar at the Golden Temple, Amritsar city was turned into a fortress with about 5,000 security personnel comprising seven companies of paramilitary forces being deployed to maintain law and order.
A clash took place inside Golden Temple in Amritsar when a group of youths raised pro-Khalistan slogans, which was opposed by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee volunteers, leaving five persons injured.
The Lashkar-e-Tayiba has threatened to blow up the Golden Temple, the holy Sikh shrine which is visited by thousands of visitors everyday.
'Khalistanis can be divided into three categories: Firstly, hardcore ideological people. They are microscopic, not even 1%.' 'Secondly, those who consider Khalistan a business.' 'The third category that has built the narrative of Khalistan are those who gain from polarisation.'
Amritpal Singh, the chief of the 'Waris Punjab De' outfit, who is lodged in Assam's Dibrugarh jail under the National Security Act, has thrown his hat into the ring as an Independent.
'Why exclude those who are curious about our faith but not born into it, to experience the temple?'
His remarks at a press briefing came when asked about a media report that said Canada may arrest two suspects in Nijjar's killing "within weeks".
India on Thursday described as 'matter of serious concern' reports that said some members of the Indian community in Canadian province of British Columbia received 'extortion calls'.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation from the Red Fort on Thursday night to mark the 400th birth anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the first prime minister to deliver a speech at the Mughal-era monument after sunset.
Authorities said the shooting is not related to a hate crime.
The apex court, which took notice of the attack and ordered the local authorities to appear before the court on January 5, also directed the board to submit in court details of all functional and non-functional temples and gurdwaras across Pakistan, Dawn newspaper reported.
The report said that collaborative efforts should be taken to renovate Terri Mandir (Karak), Katas Raj Temples (Chakwal), Prahlad Mandir (Multan) and Hinglaj Mandir (Lasbela).
"On martyrdom day, I pay my respects to Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru who sacrificed their life for the nation," PM said in a statement.
Barring 2004 and 2009 when Navjot Singh Sidhu won the Amritsar seat as a BJP MP and 1998 when Daya Singh Sodhi from BJP was elected as the MP, it has essentially a Congress bastion.
"Which Sikh in the world does not want it?" Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh said
Police said no murder case has been registered in this case as yet and their priority is to establish the identity of the man for which they have shared his pictures in media and with the police in other states.
'The politics that is now being played in Punjab doesn't contribute towards peace and tranquillity.'
Most political leaders in Punjab have come out in the open to oppose him, unlike the early 1980s when political leaders were scared of speaking against Bhindranwale, observes Sudhir Bisht.
Over the years, Khalistani extremists were further "emboldened" and started "operating with impunity" from Canada.
Meanwhile, the man was cremated as no one came forward to claim the body.
Some residents of village Nizampur claimed that the man disrespected the Nishan Sahib and tried to run away but was caught after a chase.
In the last 9 years, the BJP govt has marked some anniversaries and events with more zeal than Congress-led governments.
'This whole story is going to become extremely murky and that discovering who is an agent of the Indian government is not necessarily a simple matter.' 'And that if Trudeau was to name (the person) who he thinks is the connection with the Indian government, that the Indian government will be sure to have some deniability and will be able to say he had nothing to do with us.'
Punjab Police expanded their search for Amritpal Singh on Friday to 'deras' and other possible hideouts of the fugitive preacher in Hoshiarpur district, where some suspects had abandoned their car following a chase three days ago.
Harjit Singh Sajjan is the first Sikh to hold the top defence job in a foreign land. And this is his first official trip to the country of his birth.
After the alleged sacrilege bid incident in Kapurthala in which an unidentified man was killed by a mob on Sunday, Punjab police officers had at a presser stated that a case of murder had also been registered but soon backtracked on their statement.
The Punjab Police has already invoked the stringent National Security Act (NSA) against the Khalistan sympathiser.
Security was beefed up around the Indian high commission in London on Monday and Scotland Yard detained one person in connection with vandalism at the mission by Khalistan supporters a day earlier as India asked the UK to quickly arrest and prosecute those involved in the attack.
With a saffron-coloured cloth covering his head, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday offered prayers at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, where he was presented with a traditional robe of honour. The Punjab leg of Trudeau's visit comes after he mingled with Bollywood stars in Mumbai and a visit to the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad and a trip to Taj Mahal in Agra. Here are glimpses from Day 4 of the Trudeau India visit.
With Charanjit Channi's selection as Punjab CM, the Congress has got its opponents thinking seriously about their next move, notes Sanjeev Nayyar.
B D Pande was Punjab's governor during Operation Bluestar. In this excerpt from his memoir, In the Service of Free India: Memoir of a Civil Servant, Pande reveals what really went on behind the scenes during those dark days in India's history.
Would a Muslim or Christian or Dalit mob who lynched someone because their religious feelings were hurt be given State protection? asks Jyoti Punwani.
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