On 24 Sep, senior columnist Tavleen Singh published her syndicated Fifth Column in The Indian Express. It was titled India's Canadian Problem. In her column, she asserted that Guru Gobind Singh was a Hindu and Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale ran a ‘reign of terror.’ Singh’s column starts with questioning the Indian prime minister over the Canada fracas and asks why he is reviving Khalistan but then moves into furthering falsities about the Sikh religion regularly perpetuated by the Indian media. Issuing a statement on X, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) refuted Singh’s assertions. However, the timing of the statement is questionable because the SGPC’s patron political party – the Shiromani Akali Dal – is now recovering some space in Panjab over the Satluj Yamuna Link canal issue. Meanwhile, the SGPC fumbled over recovering Sikh articles of faith from a Gurdwara in Sikkim. On 10 Oct, the Sikkim High Court dismissed a writ petition filed by Sri Guru Singh Sabha seeking the restoration of the Guru Granth Sahib and other religious articles at Gurdwara Gurudongmar Tso at Chungthang. While there is some historical evidence of Guru Nanak having visited the site, the Gurdwara was under the care of the Indian Army. In 1997, the Sikkim Forest Department’s inspection found the Gurdwara occupying forest land. The Army handed over the Gurdwara to the department but the articles of faith went missing. Justice Meenakshi Madan Rai said the case raised multifaceted questions of fact and legality that required examination in a civil court and was thus not suitable for resolution through Article 226 of the Constitution.
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