In order to establish its own satellite channel for broadcasting Gurbani from the Golden Temple, a team of the SGPC met with Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur in Delhi on Tuesday.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) delegation, led by its president Harjinder Singh Dhami, presented Thakur with a letter asking him to speed up the launch of the SGPC’s satellite channel during the meeting.
After the Sikh religious organization launched its own YouTube channel, Dhami said that preparations were being made to launch a satellite channel. “So that the procedure may be finished quickly, the Union Minister has been notified. The ‘Sangat’ (community) has long demanded the creation of a channel, and the SGPC is dedicated to delivering on that desire,’ said Dhami in a statement.
According to the statement, Thakur promised the delegation that the procedure will be carried out with careful deliberation. Along with Rajinder Singh Mehta, Kulwant Singh Mannan, and Sarvan Singh Kular, the delegation also included SGPC general secretary Gurcharan Singh Grewal.
Som Prakash, the Union’s Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, attended the meeting as well. The SGPC inaugurated its YouTube page for the Gurbani broadcast from the Golden Temple on Sunday.
The SGPC had requested that PTC Channel, which is often associated with the Badal family, air the holy songs until the Sikh organization’s own satellite channel was built.
The contract between the SGPC and GNext Media (a PTC channel) ended on Sunday. The live broadcast of Gurbani from the Sikh temple in Amritsar has caused conflict between the state administration headed by the AAP and the SGPC. While the SGPC claims that the supreme Sikh organization alone should have the exclusive right to broadcast Gurbani, Mann has asked for its free airing on TV stations.
