Chandigarh, Nov. 10: Sikh radicals today "appointed" Jagtar Singh Hawara, who is undergoing life sentence for the murder of then Punjab chief minister Beant Singh in 1995, the jathedar (head priest) of the Akal Takht, the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs.

Besides "replacing" the head priest of the Akal Takht, the radicals, members of several Sikh outfits and hardline groups, "removed" the head priests of the Takht Kesgarh Sahib and the Takht Damdama Sahib.

Such appointments are made by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), which is responsible for the upkeep of gurdwaras.

As Hawara is in jail, the radicals appointed erstwhile militant leader Dhian Singh Mand, as the acting head priest of the Akal Takht.

They took the decision by convening a congregation of Sikhs, known as the Sarbat Khalsa, at Chaaba village near Amritsar. Traditionally, only the head priest of the Akal Takht can call such a meeting.

The radicals called the congregation to protest the recent desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib in some parts of Punjab and the decision of Akal Takht head priest Giani Gurbachan Singh, who they "removed" today, to pardon Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh of the Sirsa-based Dera Sucha Sauda.

The radicals have accused Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal of politicising Sikh institutions. They have alleged that Gurbachan Singh had not "punished" Ram Rahim Singh for "religious misconduct". Ram Rahim Singh had "hurt the religious sentiments" of Sikhs in 2007 by wearing an attire resembling that of the tenth Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh, and distributing amrit, which Sikhs drink during baptism, among his followers.

Ram Rahim Singh's acts had sparked protests, prompting the Dera Sucha Sauda chief to apologise to the Sikh community.

Today's Sarbat Khalsa was termed "illegal" by the SGPC as only the Akal Takht head priest appointed by it can convene such a congregation.

Major radical groups such as the Dal Khalsa opposed the congregation, saying it should not be called Sarbat Khalsa. Some of their leaders, however, attended the congregation but chose not to go to the dais.

The congregation passed a number of resolutions, including a demand for a separate Sikh state of Khalistan. It also declared former state police chief K.P.S. Gill and General Kuldip Singh Brar, who headed Operation Blue Star in 1984, guilty of desecrating the Akal Takht and asked them to appear before it on November 20.

The ruling Shiromani Akali Dal, too, dubbed the congregation "illegal". "The autocratic manner in which they have gone ahead in appointing the priests is against the age-old and accepted traditions and norms of the community," the party said in a statement.

The Shiromani Akali Dal accused the Congress of fomenting trouble in the state, alleging that some of the party's leaders had attended the congregation.