'Devoid Of Facts': SGPC Wants Ban On Booklet Released By PM Modi At Kashi Vishwanath Corridor Inauguration

The booklet mentions the Panj Piaras as the same persons who went to Kashi to learn more about Sanatan Dharm. However, Ramdas clarified that they were different people.

PM Modi had released the booklet at the inauguration of Kashi Vishwanath Corridor (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has condemned the release of a booklet named ‘Sri Kashi Vishwanath Dham Ka Gauravshali Itihas’ by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of the inauguration of the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor.

SGPC, in a press note, said that the booklet presents Sikh history related to Kashi in a distorted manner, and has demanded a complete ban on it. SGPC media secretary Kulwinder Singh Ramdas said that the booklet was distributed by the Uttar Pradesh government as ‘prasad’ in the inauguration event.

The booklet claims that the Khalsa Panth was founded to learn more about and protect the Sanatan Dharm. “The booklet states that the Panj Piaras (five beloved ones) through whom the Khalsa Panth was founded by Guru Gobind Singh (10th Guru) were first sent to Kashi, so that they may attain the full knowledge of the Sanatan Dharm and be ready for its protection,” Ramdas highlighted.

ਸ਼੍ਰੋਮਣੀ ਕਮੇਟੀ ਨੇ ‘ਸ੍ਰੀ ਕਾਸ਼ੀ ਵਿਸ਼ਵਨਾਥ ਧਾਮ ਕਾ ਗੌਰਵਸ਼ਾਲੀ ਇਤਿਹਾਸ’ ਕਿਤਾਬਚੇ ’ਤੇ ਪਾਬੰਦੀ ਲਗਾਉਣ ਦੀ ਕੀਤੀ ਮੰਗ
ਉੱਤਰ ਪ੍ਰਦੇਸ਼ ਸਰਕਾਰ ਦੇ ‘ਸੂਚਨਾ ਅਤੇ ਜਨ ਸੰਪਰਕ ਵਿਭਾਗ’ ਵੱਲੋਂ ਵੰਡੇ ਕਿਤਾਬਚੇ ਵਿਚ ਸਿੱਖਾਂ ਬਾਰੇ ਦਰਜ ਹੈ ਭੁਲੇਖਾ ਪਾਊ ਜਾਣਕਾਰੀ#SGPCPressNote @PMOIndia @narendramodi @UPGovt @myogiadityanath pic.twitter.com/COuCYNYwtB

— Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) (@SGPCAmritsar) December 16, 2021

He added that it is “devoid of facts, with illusory intentions and lack of knowledge about the mission of the Sikh faith,” said Ramdas.

He further explained that the story told in the book is factually wrong. “In fact, Khalsa Panth was formed to protect religious values and human rights against oppression, tyranny, and injustice and not to protect the Sanatan Dharm. Secondly, the five Sikhs sent to Kashi are totally different from the Panj Piaras who offered heads at the time of the formation of the Khalsa at Sri Anandpur Sahib,” he added.

The booklet mentions the Panj Piaras as the same persons who went to Kashi to learn more about Sanatan Dharm. However, Ramdas clarified that they were different people. Ramdas says that the Five persons sent to Kashi were not Panj Piaras, rather they were sent to learn the Sanskrit language as some “Sikh students belonging to the so-called Shudra class” were denied to be taught Sanskrit by Pandit Raghunath at Paonta Sahib.