New Delhi, August 11, 2023: As per media reports,The Maharashtra government notified the name of Vijay Satbir Singh, a former IAS officer, as the new Administrator for Takhat Sachkhand Shri Hazur Abchalnagar Sahib in Nanded, Maharashtra.
The Sikh community had earlier protested the appointment of a non-Sikh (Abhijit Rajendra Raut, the collector of Nanded) as the administrator.
The gurdwara is one of the five (Takhts) high seats of authority of the Sikhs and was built between 1830 and 1839.
According to the news published in The Tribune, Manjinder Singh Sirsa leader of the BJP today led a delegation to meet Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. He was accompanied by Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president Harmeet Singh Kalka and general secretary Jagdip Singh Kahlon.
Earlier this week, Sikh Panth strongly condemned the Maharashtra government’s move to appoint a non-Sikh administrator of Takht.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee’s (SGPC) executive committee had passed a resolution against the appointment of a non-Sikh as the administrator of Takht Sri Hazur Sahib.
In Delhi, Shiromani Akali Dal Delhi Unit president Paramjit Singh Sarna stated that appointment of a non-Sikh administrator was like playing with the “sentiments of the Sikh community and directly interfering in the internal affairs of the Sikhs.”