CLARIFICATION
Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara
Clarification of alleged incident on Derby Question & Answer session broadcasted 20th April 2014
Q & A sessions are being regularly held by panellists of Singh Sabha Gurdwara, Derby on Sangat TV (Sky 847) on Sundays from 4 to 5.30 PM for more than two years. A session of Q & A was held on 20th April 2014 on the last day of week-long religious ceremonies at the Singh Sabha Gurdwara, Derby. The panellists reflected on the constitution of Sikh concept of governance. All panellists expounded on the Sikh philosophy contained in Sri Guru Granth Sahib that is founded on liberty, fraternity, equality and justice. Also facts about meditation, sharing, earnest earning, service, democratisation and decentralisation were highlighted. It was clearly emphasised that there was no place for discrimination against any one on caste, creed, race, religion, region and gender. Joga Singh mentioned that AKJ’s practices are anti-caste and anti-racial as inter-caste marriages have been performed in it since its inception. This has been recognised by the complainant. However, a complaint has been made against Mr ***** Singh from Bedford who spoke for the first time on that day and was attending the religious functions in Singh Sabha Gurdwara, Derby. He was given to speak towards the last two minutes of the programme.
Overall, he spoke in support of equality and no caste discrimination. He took the example of water that is used in the kitchen as well as in the toilet but it is the same water at both places. The same way the essence in all individuals is the same, and hence there exists no place for discrimination. Unfortunately, when he was mentioning about the sameness of water as a foundation to his argument there occurred a technical fault in the live TV relay from Derby side. The Sangat TV called Derby and told that the picture had frozen. Before the relay could resume the Derby Q & A time had already finished and Mr ****** Singh’s speech was only heard partly which has been (and could be) misinterpreted.
In no way Mr ****** Singh deviated from other panellists in conveying that here was no place for caste discrimination in the Sikh religion. Had he made any derogatory comments against any caste the hundreds of Sangat sitting in front of this relay in Singh Sabha Gurdwara, Derby would have objected. But none did so as his remarks were not anti-caste.
We express our concern and regret for the unintentional interruption in the TV relay that resulted in distortions of speech to the extent of being misinterpreted and causing a hurt to some viewers. We reiterate that we fully believe and practice equality in accordance with our Gurus’ dictates. We have no hesitation in condemning anybody speaking against the basic principles of Sikhi that entail equality of all humans. We shall observe more caution in the future.
Q & A Team of Sangat TV (Sky 847) Singh Sabha Gurdwara, Derby 27th April 2014
Vaheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Vaheguru Ji Ki Fateh !!!!