‘All channels should be allowed to broadcast free of cost and free to air’, he said
Chandigarh, July 21(Press Ki Taquat)
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday said the SGPC should clarify about the live broadcast of ‘Gurbani’ from Golden Temple from July 24 onwards as its agreement with a media channel telecasting the Sikh religious hymn will end soon.
The AAP-led state government and the SGPC have locked horns over the live broadcast of Gurbani from the Sikh shrine in Amritsar. While the SGPC asserts that the broadcast rights of the religious hymn should be reserved for the apex Sikh body only, Mann has sought its free telecast on all TV channels.
“Surprisingly, the SGPC is requesting only one private channel to continue broadcasting Holy Gurbani…why not others??” “Will they give the right of Gurbani (broadcast) to one family again for an indefinite period of time through the channel?? There is a limit to greed…,” he added.
Earlier, Mann had offered to pay all expenses for Gurbani’s telecast across channels free of cost.
The state government is ready to discharge the duty of bearing all expenses for installing hi-tech equipment for the telecast of Gurbani on all the channels, he had said in May.
Last year too, he had urged the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the apex religious body of the Sikhs, to allow the telecast of Gurbani from Golden Temple on other channels as well.
A few days ago, the SGPC had said it will launch its own YouTube channel for the broadcast of Gurbani from the Sikh shrine in Amritsar. It had said it will also roll out a satellite channel.
The Punjab Assembly on June 20 had passed the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which aimed at ensuring free-to-air telecast of Gurbani. The move came after the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government approved an amendment to the British-era Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925.
However, the SGPC had vehemently opposed the amendment and accused the Punjab chief minister of interfering in its matters.
SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami had said in Amritsar recently that the apex gurdwara body will roll out its own YouTube channel on July 24 for the live broadcast of Gurbani.
The SGPC’s agreement with GNext Media (PTC channel), which is currently telecasting Gurbani from the Sikh shrine, will expire on July 23.
PTC, a private channel, is often linked to the Badal family.
Mann had a few days ago urged Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit to sign the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023, aimed at ensuring free-to-air telecast of Gurbani from the Golden Temple in Amritsar. This was one of the four Bills passed during the June 20-21 session.
Replying to Mann’s letter, Purohit said he will take action on the Bills after the legality of the session held last month was first examined.
SGPC chief Dhami had earlier also said the body will seek a three-month extension for the PTC.
He had said all the rights of Gurbani broadcast will be reserved with the SGPC only and no channel, YouTube, website, or social media platform will be able to broadcast the religious hymn at its own will.