TAXILA: Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC), the representative body of Sikh Pakistanis, on Monday rejected the new Nanakshahi Calendar 2015-16 amended by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Amritsar, India, on March 14.
For most of its history, Sikhism used the traditional Vikrami calendar, shared by Sikhs and Hindus in North India, to set the date of its festivals. In 2003, the solar calender Nanakshahi was adopted.
This calendar was amended in 2010 and on Saturday a new Nanakshahi Calender was issued.
PSGPC President Sardar Sham Singh said Sikh Pakistanis would continue to observe religious festivals according to the 2003 calendar. Sardar Sham Singh, along with other representatives of Pakistan’s Sikh community, was talking to newsmen at Gurdawara Punja Sahib in Hassanabdal.
He said Pakistani Sikhs unanimously accepted the original Nanakshahi Calender issued in 2003 from Sri Akal Takhat Sahib. Since then Sikh Pakistanis have been celebrating all Gurpurabs and observing other holy days in accordance with the Nanakshahi Calendar 2003.
Amendments were issued on Saturday by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Amritsar
The PSGPC also rejected the amendments made in 2010 and have been following the original 2003 calender.
Mr Singh said that the issue of Nanakshahi Calendar was not a prerogative of the SGPC rather it was related to the entire Sikh community.
He said that to make any major amendment to the calendar, it was also mandatory to get approval from S.Pal Purewal who has spent many years of his life making the Sikh calendar. “Approval from Sikh organisations around the world is also necessary before a new calendar is issued,” he said.
He said Sikhs in Pakistan and other parts of the world were not bound to follow this amendment which had converted the Nanakshahi Calendar to the Bikrami Calendar.
Sardar Sham Singh appealed to Sikhs around the world to reject this controversial amendment which has not sought approval from other Sikh organisations.
Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2015
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