Khalsaji,
This is a burning topic. If you go to Punjab almost every third village is having
a so called Sant. These sants are wll armed, they move around in luxery
cars and with a lot of armed bodyguards. They have Kutias(Huts) with lot of ACs. They have latest cellphones. They have lot of degrees prefixed to their names e.g. 108, 1008, Maha tyagi, Maha Tapaswi, Sant Shiromani, Param Pujneek, Brahm Gyani, and what not. Who gives them these degrees?
If we go through our history, we find Baba Budha ji, Bhai Mati Das ji,
Bhai Sati Dasji, Bhai Dayalaji, Four Saibjadas, Chalee Mukte and hundred of other personalites which lived during life time of Ten Gurus but were never called Sants. Guru Maharaj honoured them as Baba Or Shaheed. Why Sants have started surfacing now? Where were they during hard days?
SGPC failed in it's mission of Prachaar, Maintenance of Langars and Gurdwaras and hence created a vaccum for these so called Sants/Babas.
Please see some of the slogans for the present
ਖਾਲਸਾ ਜੀ ਜਾਗੋ, ਸੰਤ ਬਾਬੇ ਤ੍ਯਾਗੋ.
ਸਿਖ ਪੰਥ ਬਚਾਓ, ਸੰਤ ਬਾਬੇ ਭਜਾਓ.
ਜੇ ਕਰ ਸਿਖ ਨੂ ਸਿਖ ਨਾ ਮਾਰੇ, ਸਿਖ ਪੰਥ ਕਦੇ ਨਾ ਹਾਰੇ
ਪਹਿਲਾਂ ਸਨ ਗੁਰਦਵਾਰੇ ਕਚੇ ਪਰ ਸਿਖ ਸਨ ਪੱਕੇ, ਹੁਣ ਗੁਰਦਵਾਰੇ ਹੋ ਗਏ ਪੱਕੇ ਤੇ ਸਿਖ ਹੋ ਗਏ ਕਚੇ