Members of the Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee task force were mute spectators as Bhai Ranjit Singh ascended the Akal Takht alongwith his supporters to lead the Khalsa march to the birthplace of the Khalsa amid slogans of `Bole so Nihal' and `Akal Takht mahaan hai, Sikh quam ki shaan hai'.

Sant Ajit Singh Randhaw, a member of the `Sant Samaj' faction loyal to Bhai Ranjit Singh performed the ardas at the Akal Takht in defiance of an SGPC order that Bhai Ranjit Singh and his supporters would not be allowed to enter the Akal Takht and perform `ardas'.

It was a virtual show of strength by the Bhai Ranjit Singh -- Tohra group as thousands of male supporters wearing saffron turbans and the women in kesari chunnis joined the march as it emerged from the Golden Temple complex andmade its way onto the Sher Shah Suri Marg for its onward journey to Anandpur Sahib with the night halt at Ludhiana today.

According to the organisers, there are about 2,000 vehicles in Bhai Ranjit Singh's caravan which left this holy city.

The march was led by the panj piaras followed by the holy Guru Granth Sahib which was placed in a flower-decked bus. Bhai Ranjit Singh followed standing atop an open jeep.

In his brief message just before the commencement of the march, Bhai Ranjit Singh asked Sikhs to rise above worldly allurements and adopt the ideology of the Sikh gurus. He called upon his supporters to remain peaceful and orderly during the march.

Prominent among those who were present at the Akal Takht and later joined the march were the Akali Dal (Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Mann, former ministers Manjit Singh Calcutta and Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal, and legislator Prem Singh Lalpura who had been expelled from the Akali Dal (Badal) last year.

Baba Thakar Singh of the militant DamdamiTaksal, Sarbjot Singh Bedi of the `Sant Samaj' alongwith sants of a number of other sects, All India Sikh Students Federation president Harminder Singh Gill, former Lok Sabha member Major Singh Uboke, and a number of SGPC members loyal to ousted SGPC chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra also participated in the march along with their supporters.

Tohra is expected to join the march at Ludhiana alongwith his supporters. Members of the Punjab Human Rights Organisation and the World Sikh Council were also part of the tercentenary procession.

The atmosphere at the Golden Temple complex before the commencement of the Khalsa march remained peaceful but senior police officials in civilian clothes alongwith a 100-odd policemen kept a close watch inside the shrine. The first to enter the Akal Takht was Baba Thakar Singh of the Damdami Taksal followed by Bhai Manjit Singh of the Tohra faction of the Akali Dal (Badal) and then Simranjit Singh Maan. Members of the SGPC task force tried in vain to keep the lesser-knownparticipants of the march out of the Akal Takht building. Those who could not gain entry into the Akal Takht sat in the parikrama.

Giani Bhagwan Singh, head granthi of the Akal Takht, watched the supporters of the `suspended' jathedar crowd the Akal Takht. When Bhai Ranjit Singh entered the shrine, his supporters repeatedly shouted slogans of `Bole so Nihal'. The SGPC officials, however, succeeded in removing the public address system before the participants entered. Reports said Ranjit Singh's motorcade got longer as more and more people in vehicles, including tractor-trolleys, joined the march at different places along the Sher Shah Suri Marg in the district.