Amritsar, Aug. 6: The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Thursday warned television channels and digital platforms against retransmitting live Gurbani from the Golden Temple without prior authorisation, asserting that it alone holds the exclusive rights to broadcast the sacred hymns.
SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami said any platform relaying Gurbani by sharing the SGPC’s YouTube feed without permission would face action.
“The SGPC reserves the exclusive right to telecast Gurbani from the Golden Temple. GTC Network or any other channel relaying it by sharing the link of the SGPC’s YouTube channel without prior permission is doing so illegally and unconstitutionally. I warn them to desist from such practice,” Dhami said.
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The warning follows the launch of live Gurbani telecasts by GTC Punjabi earlier on Thursday. The channel began broadcasting the morning and evening prayers by sourcing the signal from the SGPC’s official YouTube channel and distributing it globally through its satellite and digital platforms.
Confirming the development, GTC Network founder and Managing Director Dr. Rabindra Narayan said the company had informed the SGPC in writing before beginning the retransmission to avoid any future dispute.
“We never knew that it was open for any channel to restream Gurbani. Today, I noticed around 973 platforms had shared the live telecast through SGPC’s YouTube channel link. But it was a positive signal,” Narayan said.
Describing the move as a privilege rather than a commercial achievement, he added, “We are deeply grateful to the SGPC for opening this opportunity to play a humble part in this sacred service. For us, this is not an achievement but a moment of the Guru’s grace and blessing that we have become a medium to convey the spiritual message to the Sangat.”
The development came a day after SGPC spokesperson Advocate Bhagwant Singh Sialka and Shiromani Akali Dal spokesperson Advocate Arshdeep Singh Kler, responding to allegations by AAP MLA Dr. Inderbir Singh Nijjar over an alleged monopoly on Gurbani broadcasts, stated that the telecast link available on the SGPC’s YouTube channel could be used by anyone to retransmit the live feed. Soon after those remarks, GTC Network began airing the broadcasts, while nearly 1,000 digital platforms were also reported to have started relaying the feed.
The issue of Gurbani telecast rights has remained politically contentious in Punjab. The debate intensified after the AAP government enacted the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023, aimed at ending what it described as a monopoly over Gurbani broadcasts. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had also offered logistical support for Gurbani telecasts, an offer that was declined by the SGPC.
At present, the SGPC streams Gurbani three times daily through its official YouTube channel, Facebook, website and Apple application. However, in the absence of its own satellite television channel, it continues to rely on broadcasting infrastructure operated by the PTC Network. In 2023, while launching the SGPC’s YouTube channel, Dhami had declared that all Gurbani broadcast rights would remain exclusively with the SGPC and that no television channel, website or social media platform would be permitted to telecast the prayers independently.
