Hundreds of Sikhs came out of their homes to cheer an
unusual procession.
Devotees carried silk-covered copies of the book on
their heads over a four-kilometre distance (2.5 miles), to Amritsar
international airport.
State Chief Minister Amarinder Singh was among those
who considered themselves fortunate for the chance to help carry the
holy books into the aircraft.
Each copy of the Guru Granth Sahib was reverentially
placed on a separate seat.
The books were flown on board a chartered airliner which
took off from Amritsar.
Hundreds of Sikhs came out of their homes to cheer an
unusual procession.
Devotees carried silk-covered copies of the book on
their heads over a four-kilometre distance (2.5 miles), to Amritsar
international airport.
State Chief Minister Amarinder Singh was among those
who considered themselves fortunate for the chance to help carry the
holy books into the aircraft.
Each copy of the Guru Granth Sahib was reverentially
placed on a separate seat.
Religious officials said that on arrival in Toronto
the flight would be personally met by Prime Minister Paul Martin and
leaders of Canada's Sikh community.
AMRITSAR, April 03, 2004
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Sikh devotees spread across Canada and North America
would now be able to easily acquire and place the Sri Guru Granth Sahib
in gurdwaras and their homes in consonance with the rehat maryada (Sikh
code of conduct). To solve the problems of Sikhs living abroad in obtaining
the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the Sachha Sauda Gurmat Parchar Society,
Canada, would be airlifting a planeload of the holy book from Amritsar
to Canada on Saturday.
Devotees started facing trouble after former Akal Takht
jathedar Ranjit Singh forbade private publishers to print the holy book
when he received complaints of violation of maryada in its printing
and transportation.
The Supreme Court, in a judgment, had accorded the Sri
Guru Granth Sahib a status of a "juristic person", the holy
book becomes a person in the eyes of the law when it is installed at
a gurdwara through a proper ceremony.
Jaswinder Singh Advocate of Akal Purakh Ki Fauj, who
has organised the transportation of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, told
TNN that 149 birs of the holy book would be taken to Canada accompanied
with Panj Pyaras (arriving from Canada), two sewadar and 17 crew members
of the East West airlines.
Earlier, an aeroplane of Skyline, a Canada-based air
cargo transport tycoon Surjit Babra's company, was to arrive here but
due to technical reasons East West airlines plane arrived.
The plane would take off at 4:05 pm on Saturday and
the birs would be placed in a special hall in Canada.
Jaswinder said the birs, placed in a special delivery
vehicle, would be taken to the airport in form of a nagar kirtan from
Gurdwara Ramsar. One bir each would be placed on aircraft seats. For
the purpose a special 13 by 16 inch mattress has been prepared.
Each bir wrapped in a cover, three white sheets and
one satin sheet would be placed on the seat of the aircraft with special
seat belts. The birs would be covered with a six and a half feet broad
canopy, he said.