Chandigarh, July 30: The colour of the flag hoisted on Gurudwara Sahibs established in the country and abroad will now be Basanti or Surmai. Saffron coloured flags will no longer be hoisted on Gurudwara Sahibs. This decision was taken in a meeting of five Singh Sahibs of Akal Takht Sahib, after which the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee has issued a letter in this regard.
Saffron coloured flags are hoisted in most of the Gurudwaras established in the country and abroad, including Punjab-Haryana. Complaints were being received by Akal Takht Sahib regarding this for the last several months. This controversy is going on because the saffron coloured flag matches with another Hindu organisation. After a long debate, the Singh Sahibs of the five Takhts held a meeting and decided the colour of the Nishan Sahib (flag) to be hoisted on the Gurdwara Sahibs.
After objections to the colour of the cloth of the Nishan Sahib (Sikh flag) in the Gurdwaras, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee wrote a letter to all the Gurdwaras under its control and asked them to hoist the Nishan Sahib in the colours mentioned in the Sikh Rehat Maryada. They had objected to the fact that the colours of Surmai (blue) and Basanti (orange) were being changed, which was against the Sikh Rehat Maryada.
The Akal Takht has directed the SGPC to clarify the colour of the Nishan Sahib to the management of the Gurdwaras. SGPC Secretary Pratap Singh said that after receiving instructions from the Akal Takht, the SGPC had issued a circular to all the Gurdwaras under its control and asked them to use the colour suggested by the Sikh Rehat Maryada for the Nishan Sahib.
Regarding Nishan Sahib, the Sikh Rehat Maryada published by the SGPC states that Nishan Sahib should be installed at a high place in every gurdwara. The cloth of the flag should be either Basanti or dark blue and there should be either a spear or a Khanda on top of the flagpole.
According to former SGPC general secretary G S Grewal, traditionally the colour of Nishan Sahib was Surmai or Basanti but with the passage of time people started changing the colour pattern, so now a correction has been made by the Akal Takht.
He said it would be wrong to say that Nishan Sahib was saffronised. Partap Singh said all gurdwara managers are advised to replace the gurdwaras hoisting Nishan Sahib of a colour different from the colour mentioned in the Sikh Rehat Maryada with the traditional colour.
