New Delhi: The Akal Takht on Tuesday virtually rejected the apology of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Sant Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh, saying it was dissastisfied with the manner in which the Dera head has sent his apology. Akal Takht sais the social boycott of the Dera supporters would continue.
Lashing out at the sect for their "indirect apology" over the row surrounding 10th Sikh guru Guru Gobind Singh, the Akal Takht said the Dera head was an "egoistic and shrewd person" to apologise through a press release.
The Akal Takht, the supreme spiritual and temporal seat of the Sikhs which met in Amritsar on Tuesday evening, said though the apology tendered by the Dera chief would be "considered", the social boycott of Dera supporters would continue.
"The manner in which the Dera chief has sent the apology is indicative of a person who is egoistic and clever. If the apology has not come from the bottom of the heart, even the Gurus will not accept it,” the Akal Takht said in a press statement.
Peaceful protest against the Dera will continue, the Akal Takht said. It also called upon the Sikh followers of Dera to leave the sect and "come back to Sikhism."
The Akal Takht has, meanwhile, asked the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) to form a panel of legal experts to get the Deras vacated legally.
The Dera had apologised through a press statement on Sunday over the row surrounding the alleged blasphemous act against 10th Sikh Guru.
The apology was, however, addressed to Guru Gobind Singh, and not Akal Takht, as the supreme Sikh body had been demanding.
A press release issued by Dera Sacha Sauda on Sunday evening said: "Dera Sacha Sauda apologises to Sri Gobind Guruji for the sake of humanity."
"We can't even think of copying him," the press release states referring to the controversy surrounding a newspaper advertisement which showed the chief of the Dera sect, Baba Gurmeet Singh Ram Raheem, dressed as the 10th Sikh Guru - Guru Gobind Singh - and distributing amrit (holy water) to people. The standoff had resulted in large-scale violence in Punjab over the past week.
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