SAD demands judicial probe into sacrilege of Mahan Kosh by Punjabi varsity authorities
Bahadurjeet Singh/royalpatiala.in News/Anandpur Sahib, August 29,2025
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today while condemning the sacrilege of Mahan Kosh by the Punjabi University, Patiala authorities demanded a judicial probe into the incident as well as fixing accountability for the grave errors in reprinting of 20,000 copies of the Mahan Kosh.
Addressing a press conference here, senior SAD leader Dr Daljit Singh Cheema also demanded that higher education minister Harjot Singh Bains, who had only recently proffered an apology to the Sri Akal Takht for violating the ‘maryada’ during a function held to commemorate the martyrdom of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur last month, should own moral responsibility for the disrespect shown to the Mahan Kosh and should resign from his chair.
Dr Daljit Cheema also expressed shock that though an FIR had been registered against few officials of the Punjabi University after a mid night protest by varsity students, the officials were still continuing in their posts. “How can the police hold a free and fair probe if the officials continue to occupy the posts and influence the investigation?” he asked. He demanded that the officials should be removed from their posts immediately and disciplinary action should be initiated against them.
Speaking about the incident along with senior leaders Amarjit Singh Chawla and Diljeet Singh Bhinder, Dr Cheema said the Mahan Kosh was a treasure trove of Sikh literature and contains hyms from the Gurbani besides ‘raagas’ and other important religious and cultural knowledge. “It is shocking that the Mahan Kosh, which was reprinted in 2017, was done incorrectly with thousands of mistakes”. He said the Punjabi University had not held the Expert Committee which had been given the responsibility of reprinting the Mahan Kosh into English, Hindi and Punjab, accountable for their actions till now even though crores of rupees had been spent in this exercise. “This should be done immediately”.
Dr Cheema said the University had compounded its mistake by deciding to do away with the copies of the Mahan Kosh after they were found unfit for distribution. “Instead of following the procedures laid down by the Shiromani Committee in such matters the University authorities chose to dump the copies in a hastily dug up area in the campus. “This action has hurt the sentiments of the Sikh community and is not justified in any manner whatsoever. The issue should be probed thoroughly and required action should be taken to the satisfaction of the ‘sangat’, Dr Cheema added.
 today while){kind=link}