Disappointing various sections of the community, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee said it goes by the definition of the word ‘Sikh’ as enshrined in the Gurdwara Act of 1925.

The SGPC executive that met in Chandigarh on Wednesday passed a resolution, saying that the definition of Sikh would remain unaltered and any one who is Sikh but has shorn his hair would be a “patit” and not a Sehajdhari as being demanded.

In the last general house meeting for the SGPC, a sub-committee was constituted to advise the SGPC executive on the controversial issue.

“Anyone who is not born as a Sikh but believes in Sikh philosophy, observe its rites is a Sehajdhari. But any Sikh with shorn hair is not a Sehajdhari Sikh but a patit,” said SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar.

Explaining the word Sehajdhari, he said, “Sehaj means slowly and dhari means follower of the religion. Sehajdharis slowly get into the fold of Sikhism, and become keshadhari. The SGPC will

submit an affidavit in the Punjab and Haryana High Court in this regard also, as some students seeking admission in an SGPC-run institute had filed a writ petition against them for denying admission due to their shorn hair.”

‘Confusion should be cleared’
Paramjeet Singh Ranu, president of the Sehajdhari Sikh Federation, today said 85 per cent of the Sikh population was non-amritdhari and declaring them as patit was unjustified. Condemning the action of the SGPC in a press statement issued here today, he said, “Mahan Kosh, the encyclopedia of Sikhism, defines Sehajdhari as ‘a person who remains at ease with liberal thought, who is an integral part of Sikhs but does not adhere to the amrit and believes in the ten gurus and Guru Granth Sahib’”. Dr Ranu said the confusion being created by the SGPC between the patits and Sehajdharis should be cleared, Jagtar Singh Dhaliwal, general secretary of the federation said.
—ENS