Manjinder Singh Sirsa, the outgoing president of the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee and an Akali Dal leader, has been disqualified from being co-opted as a member of the DSGMC. The order was passed by the director of the Delhi Gurudwara election body, Narinder Singh on Tuesday. He informed that Sirsa was not eligible for the post since he did not know how a read and write ‘Gurmukhi’ (the script used by Sikhs for writing Punjabi), a basic requirement to hold the post as per the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Act, 1971.
DSGMC President Manjinder Singh Sirsa failed the test of Gurmukhi undertaken by Director Gurudwara Elections on the order of Honourable High Court. #Fail pic.twitter.com/fvoTI275bs
— Gagandeep Singh (@Gagan4344) September 21, 2021
The orders asked the SGPC to nominate a new person.
The term ‘co-option’ refers to the process of existing members inviting new members to join a committee or other group.
“The undersigned is constrained to deduce that Manjinder Singh Sirsa is not well-versed with the reading and writing of Gurmukhi and, therefore, does not qualify the eligibility conditions as laid down in Section 10 of the DSGMC Act,” said the order issued on Tuesday by Narinder Singh.
It may be noted that after Manjinder Singh Sirsa had lost the DSGMC polls held on August 22, to Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi) candidate Harvinder Singh Sarna, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal had on August 25 said that Sirsa will continue as DSGMC president. He had then proposed that Sirsa will be co-opted through the quota of the Amritsar-headquartered Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC).
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has a majority in SGPC.
Manjinder Singh Sirsa made 27 errors in 46 of his own chosen words in Gurmukhi
After Sukhbir Singh Badal’s declaration, Sirsa provided his academic credentials, stating that he received his BA Honours (Punjabi) from Sri Teg Bahadur Khalsa College, Delhi University, between 1990 and 1993. Sirsa also presented a certificate from the Principal of Sukho Khalsa Sr Secondary School, Jail Road, Janakpuri, stating that he had recited Gurbani in Gurmukhi and written Gurmukhi script in front of the Principal.
The Directorate, however, denied both of Sirsa’s claims.
Narinder Singh wanted to put Sirsa’s reading and writing skills to the test. According to the order, “When asked to recite Gurmukhi from Ang (page) 1358 of Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Manjinder Singh Sirsa was unable to do so with proficiency and accuracy, and when Sirsa was given a dictation from Sri Guru Granth Sahib, he flatly refused to write Gurmukhi, claiming that the language was too difficult.”
He was then required to write an application in Gurmukhi, in which he made 27 errors. “Ironically, the said letter written by Sirsa in Gurmukhi in his own choice of words has as many as 27 errors out of 46 words which are indicative of his little knowledge of Gurmukhi”, read the order of the election director, adding that while Sirsa might be able to write a few words in Punjabi, but the spirit of the DSGMC Act, 1971, places great importance to a recitation from the Sri Guru Granth Sahib and the writing of Gurmukhi, where he has miserably failed.
Sirsa being investigated for misappropriation of Gurudwara funds
Notably, Sirsa is currently being investigated into alleged misappropriation of funds during his tenure as the secretary-general of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC). In fact, on July 26, 2021, the Delhi police had issued a Look Out Circular (LOC) against the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader. The court had passed the decision after the complainant’s advocate claimed that Sirsa “is a flight risk.”
In January 2021, the Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing had registered a case against Manjinder Singh Sirsa and other unknown persons in the committee for the misappropriation of funds while Sirsa was the general secretary of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee in 2013.
The order was passed following a complaint by one Bhupinder Singh who had contended that the current DSGMC president Manjinder Singh Sirsa, who was the general secretary of the committee then in 2013, had caused a loss of public funds to the tune of Rs 65,99,729 by showing sham transactions with various entities and raising fictitious bills without any actual goods or services being provided.
