Dera row: Sikh congregation on Nov 10

Radical Sikh groups are all set for confrontation with the ruling Akali Dal and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) over the pardoning of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh by the Akal Takht, the highest temporal body of Sikhs.
Sikh leaders, who met here today at Gurudwara Shahidana, decided to hold 'Sarbat Khalsa' (congregation of Sikhs) on November 10 at Gurdwara Manji Sahib at Amritsar.
Simranjit Singh Maan, president of Akali Dal (Amritsar), while briefing the proceedings of the meeting, said if the SGPC made attempts to prevent holding of Sarbat Khalsa at Gurudwara Manji Sahib then it will be held on the Amritsar-Tarntaran road at the samadh (memorial) of Baba Naud Singh.

He said that the Sikhs from India and abroad would be invited to participate in this event.
Maan said that a committee representing different Sikh organisations would be announced in this context on October 18 at Jalandhar. "This committee would decide the agenda of the Sarbat Khalsa," he added.
The prominent Sikh leaders, who were present in the meeting, included Balwant Singh Nandgarh a former head priest of Takhat Sri Damdama Sahib, Sikh Students Federation president Karnail Singh and Akali Dal (United) president Mohkam Singh.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh had courted controversy after he allegedly imitated a Sikh guru in 2007 that triggered violent protest in Punjab and Haryana.

He was boycotted by the Sikh community after an edict from the Akal Takht in 2007, but the top temporal seat of Sikhs recently pardoned him for his alleged act.