Dr Avtar Singh Shastri, General Secretary, Rashtriya Sikh Sangat
Not excommunicated, fully respect Akal Takht, says RSS
New Delhi, October 17, 2017: Rashtriya Sikh Sangat (RSS) an affiliate of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) on Tuesday termed all talk about their organisation having been “excommunicated” by Akal Takht as baseless and misleading.
Raking up this issue when an all-faith programme is being organized at New Delhi’s Talkatora Stadium at 5 pm on October 25 to celebrate 350th Prakash Varsh of Guru Gobind Singh was deplorable, said Dr Avtar Singh Sashtri, national general secretary of the RSS.
In a statement issued here on Tuesday, Dr Shastri said this event was being organized under the aegis of the national organizing committee constituted by the central government. The vested interests were trying to create unnecessary confusion by terming it as an RSS event, he clarified.
The government nominated 6 members of the RSS besides those from the VHP and RSS, the parent body of the Sangh Parivar.
Referring to 2004 Akal Takht directive, Dr Sashtri said it was issued in connection with objections raised over yatras (religious processions) organized by their organization to commemorate 400 years of Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
The RSS had then cancelled the yatra in the wake of Akal Takht decision. But later the organization participated in yatras organized by Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) and celebrated the occasion within country and abroad, he said urging those trying to rake up the issue again to refrain from doing so on in the interest of socio-religious harmony.
Dr Shastri appealed to the Sikh Sangat to whole-heartedly attend October 25 programme in which prominent religious and social personalities from among the Sikh, Muslim, Jain, Bhudhist communities and various religious sects are participating. Besides people from different political ideologies, Governors, Chief Ministers of many states and central ministers will also attend.