Putting up a brave face in the wake of widespread allegations of corruption and undercurrents of infighting since inception two years ago, DSGMC is in disarray.

Infighting amongst the leadership, particularly between President Manjit Singh GK and General Secretary Manjinder Singh Sirsa, corruption charges against President Manjit Singh GK and the administrative staff of DSGMC, the beating of President Manjit Singh GK at the hands of the volunteers of Sikhs For Justice in USA and his rabble rousing interviews after that, the election of Paramjit Singh Rana -member of the Dharam Parchar Committee and other members as Bharatiya Janata Party municipal councillors and Manjinder Singh Sirsa becoming a member of the Delhi State assembly –all these and more have marked the last around two years since the formation of the DSGMC in 2015.

The vast corruption in the functioning of the DSGMC on all fronts is an open secret. Whether Gurmeet Singh Shunty will be able to prove that in court or whether that will degenerate into a pressure tactic, only time will tell. Paramjit Singh Sarna and his brother have been making the right noises but there has been an insignificant impact on the Sikh Sangat in Delhi.

Manjit Singh GK’s call to say that he and the whole executive committee is resigning is definitely not a large-hearted exercise to face allegations as he claims, but actually under influence of the “high command” (read Sukhbir Singh Badal) from Punjab, it is only a damage control exercise. The recent abstention of the President with delegating powers to another office bearer was only a deflecting tactic.

To its credit, the legal cell of the DSGMC has been taking up the right issues relating to Sikh affairs during this tenure, particularly their intervention on behalf of the Sikhs in Shillong and the Gurdwara Sahib in Gurudongmar in Sikkim.

The DSGMC intervention in affairs relating to November 1984 genocidal cases may be seen as an attempt to follow the footsteps of the Shiromani Akali Dal and shed crocodile tears. Providing legal aid or para-legal aid to victims of the gross human tragedy of that period is not something DSGMC should be proud of; it was part of their routine duty and taking credit through facebook posts is not only shoddy but downright sinister and inhuman.

The revelation of Avtar Singh Hit -the DSGMC member and now President of Takht Harmandir Ji Patna Sahib that a totally new committee will be formed, may set at rest any politicking that the two warring leaders may attempt to put up to further muddle the fight for leadership.

Formed in 1971 to represent the second highest population of Sikhs outside of Punjab, the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, -DSGMC is under scrutiny of the Sikh Sangat, its own parent body -the Badal Dal -which controls it from Punjab and the Indian judiciary which will decide about corruption cases.

The democratic functioning of the DSGMC is openly a sham. The brave face of the leaders is only that. The majority which controls the DSGMC does not have the guts to call a spade a spade and do what it is supposed to do. Virtually all Badal Dal members are chips of the same block.

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In Delhi -the national capital of India, a one-time centre of Sikh-rule, albeit for a very short span, the DSGMC has the potential to serve as the ambassador of the Sikh nation, provided its focus changes to Panthic from personal. The Sangat better be on its toes.