Centre accords 'Z' category security to Akal Takht Jathedar, he declines

New Delhi/Chandigarh, Jun 3: Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh was Friday granted 'Z' category security by the Union Home Ministry, but he declined the offer saying it would have hindered his work as a religious leader.

Home Ministry officials said in Delhi the decision to accord the 'Z' category security, the country's second-highest, to the Sikh religious leader was taken in view of the enhanced threat perception. "Z category security has been provided to Jathedar of Akal Takht Giani Harpreet Singh.

The CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) commandos will be in charge of his security," an official said earlier in the day. However, the Jathedar said later in Chandigarh that he did not know "what input the government has". He, however, thanked the government for its offer. "I respect the sentiments of the Centre," he said, urging it to withdraw the order.

A 'Z' category protectee is secured by about 16-20 armed CRPF commandos who are deployed round-the-clock in shifts. Akal Takht is the highest temporal seat of Sikhs, and Jathedar is its appointed head.

The Jathedar said he came to know about the Centre's decision through the media. Singh said that being the Jathedar of Akal Takht his area of work is to propagate the Sikh religion, it principles and tenets and that he has to travel within and outside the country for the purpose.

During the discharge of this duty, he said, he often has to meet a lot of people and sometime he needs to stay at somebody's residence. "In such situations, travelling with 'Z' category security is not feasible for me. There will be many problems for me," he said. "I want to say that with this 'Z' security, some problems in the area of propagation by me are natural," he said.

The Akal Takht Jathedar was one of 424 people whose security were pruned by the newly formed AAP government in Punjab. Even though his security was later restored by the state government, the Jathedar had refused to take it. PTI