High court gives voting rights to Sehajdharis in SGPC .....

I guess Sikh Gurudwara act was important for us in getting the Gurudwaras back from Mahants in early 1920's. The whole problem is that Sehajdhari Sikh means a Keshdhari one, not a patit. And people are fighting for that. All this is not for a sense of belonging, just political mayhem.
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Kanwaljit Singh ji what happened to the Mahants! Are they still around!
Now we will post "Patit Detectors" outside burger and meat joints to see that they have not served "Kutha Meat".

Now in Delhi Gurdwara Act they have requirement on Alcohol vs. Kutha, as far as I know. Wonderful!

If Sikhism loses the Honour System it loses a lot more. On the one hand we praise Sikhism as "Sikh" is a "Learner" and "Learning is Life Long". Then we start doing the exclusion stuff, very mixed up.

Sat Sri Akal.

I think the question here is more of learning vs commitment.

And if exclusion stuff is against principles, then the whole human race should be allowed to vote. The fundamental question is do we choose our leaders by voting for people we have never met, or following those who lead by example?
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/controversies/37770-high-court-gives-voting-rights-sehajdharis.html

I am in a way happy that there is one SGPC 'managing' most of the Gurudwaras, but it is not effective. Which is why we also have the dera problems. In trying to piece it all together, we are ending up with pieces which don't fit with each other. And no one passes the litmus test (kasauti) of Guru Granth Sahib as a Sikh either.

Kanwaljit Singh ji,

Guru Fateh.

The word Sehajdhari is only used for mona Sikhs or those who trim their beards. All the others who have not taken Khandei di Pahul are known as Keshadhari Sikhs.

Now, to your other point, who is a patit and who is not, one needs some "Moral Police" like they have in Saudi Arabia.

People fail to understand that to be a Patit starts in the Mann of a person, long before any action takes place in Sikhi. That is why our Gurus talk so much about making our Mann non-patit in Gurbani.

So, here the fight is between the monas and the keshadharis.

Regards

Tejwant Singh

Will challenge HC verdict: Makkar

Perneet Singh/TNS
Amritsar, December 21

A day after the Punjab and Haryana High Court restored voting rights to Sehajdhari Sikhs, SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar said they would not let the verdict go unchallenged while reiterating that the judgment would have no impact on the newly constituted SGPC House.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=37770

Talking to mediapersons here today, Makkar claimed “the court didn’t go into the details as to who was a Sehajdhari Sikh and merely passed its order on the notification barring Sehajdhari Sikhs from voting in the SGPC elections”. “The court has termed the notification invalid and has only given the legal point of view in the verdict,” he said.

Makkar sounded confident that there would be no glitch in the functioning of the new SGPC House, stating that the notification regarding the election of new members had already been issued and co-option had also taken place. He said they were consulting legal experts to decide their future course of action in connection with yesterday’s HC judgment. He hoped the co-option of 15 members would be notified soon, following which another meeting of the new SGPC House would be called to elect the office-bearers. He said once the new office-bearers were elected, they would make efforts to get the necessary amendment made in the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925, to bar Sehajdhari Sikhs from voting in the SGPC elections.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=37770

Meanwhile, the HC verdict has prompted various Sikh intellectuals to say that the concept of Sehajdhari Sikhs was being misinterpreted. Noted Sikh scholar Bhai Ashok Singh Bagaria said a person who was born in a Sikh family could not call himself Sehajdhari.

Former SGPC general secretary Bibi Kiranjot Kaur, in whose tenure the notification barring Sehajdhari Sikhs from voting in SGPC elections was issued, said, “A Sehajdhari Sikh is the one who follows basic Sikh tenets, one of which is keeping “kesh” (hair). Those who are born in Sikh families but have trimmed their hair cannot be termed as Sehajdhari. For the individuals born in Sikh families, the next step should be to get baptised and not shear one’s hair.” She said a Sehajdhari Sikh was expected to show minimum commitment towards Sikhism, which is to have a “sabat surat saroop”.

Radical Sikh outfit Dal Khalsa leader Kanwarpal Singh claimed Sehajdharis were non-Sikhs and, therefore, describing them as part of Sikhism was untrue. He slammed politicians, including former CM Captain Amarinder Singh, for creating unnecessary confusion over the definition of Sehajdhari and mixing it with “patits” (apostates) for vested interests. He said the apostates were not eligible to vote in the SGPC elections ever since the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925, was enacted, whereas Sehajdharis were debarred in 2003 with a government notification.

source: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20111222/punjab.htm#11