Amritsar : Akal Takht the highest Sikh Temporal seat taking serious seat of same sex marriage, disqualified the Sikh priests to perform religious services in the Gurdwara ( Sikh shrine) Sri Kalgidhar Sahib in Bathinda after the marriage  of two girls on September 18 inside the Gurdwara in the presence of their families.

Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh said that as per Sikh tenets there was no room for same-sex marriage as it was utter violation of Sikh religious customs.

In this regard the  the five high priests led by Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh taking  a serious note of the marriage of two girls which was solemnised at Gurdwara Sri Kalgidhar Sahib in Bathinda on September 18,  disqualified the entire managing committee of the Gurdwara concerned forever.

Head Granthi (priest) Hardev Singh, Priest Ajaib Singh, Raagi Sikandar Singh and Tabla vadak Satnam Singh were blacklisted for five years for being part of the controversial wedding which was solemsied in their presence in the Gurdwara. In future, all these people would never be allowed to perform any religious service in any of the Gurdwara or religious event, said Jatehdar.

Akal Takht deadly against the marriage of same sex for the last several decades and had issued Hukamnama (religious edict) when Giani Jogidner Singh Vedanti was Jatehdar Akal Takht  in January 2005, while issuing a ‘hukumnama’ (edict) denouncing the same-sex marriages and urging the worldwide Sikh community not to allow such marriages to take place at any Gurdwara.

Taking serious view of the proposed move of the Government of Canada to introduce same-sex marriage bill in the House of Commons, Vedanti described it as ‘anti-Gurmat’ trend that had no place in Sikhism. The directive, the first of its kind, has been issued under the seal of Akal Takht.

The directive reads that the rising trend of same-sex marriages in western countries was a matter of concern. The move of certain countries to give legal accordance to such marriages had already initiated a worldwide debate. He said Sikh code of conduct did not allow such marriages.