Harvindar Singh Bhatinda

A former activist of the All India Sikh Students Federation, Harvinder Singh Bhatinda is a keen documentalist. He will be writing regularly for The World Sikh News on contemporary and historical subjects.

After the SGPC came into existence, at the insistence of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, the Mahants who were running the management of the historical Gurdwaras in Delhi agreed to hand over the management of Gurdwaras to a committee. An 11-member committee was formed from 1923 to 1942, which committee selected members every 3 years. There were no rules and regulations for this committee’s working.  The members had limited rights and most of the members were the rich Sikhs of Delhi.

The Delhi Gurdwara committee was formed by the Shiromani Gurdwara Management Committee and as per the desires of the members, rules and regulations were drafted and the committee was registered.  After taking away powers from the Mahants, a 3-member committee consisting of Dan Singh Vichoha, Sardar Harbans Singh Sistani and Sardar Gurdit Singh was formed. These three members entered into an agreement with the Mahants.  Many were given pensions and those willing to serve were given jobs with salaries.  

After the registration of the Delhi Gurdwara Committee, there was a new turn in the history of the body.  A voters list was prepared, constituencies were made, elections were held and the Assistant Secretary of SGPC was made the returning officer-cum-observer for the elections. Elections were held in 1945.  The committee that was elected, continued to serve even after the partition of the country.  Elections were held in 1951, 1954, 1956, 1959 and 1961. However, during this period, the rift between Master Tara Singh, Jathedar Udham Singh Nagoke, Gyani Kartar Singh came to the fore. The Congress government too wanted to dominate the Delhi Gurdwara Management Committee.

Sometimes the courts would declare a committee illegal and sometimes they would allow it to work. There were cases in courts about the legality of the committees. The High Court ruled in favour of one committee on 24 April 1962, the other one procured stay and then there was a decision in 1971. Therefore the incumbent committee continued to work for 9 years.  The then president of the committee was Gian Singh Abtabad and Jathedar Santokh Singh was the Secretary.

Jathedar Santokh Singh was close to Akali stalwart Sant Fateh Singh. Jathedar Rachhpal Singh was the main opponent of Jathedar Santokh Singh in Delhi. Bibi Nirlep Kaur was also running her own centre of power in Delhi.  With a show of force, all groups opposed to Sant Fateh Singh, joined hands and with the support of the Delhi government, on 6 May 1971, occupied the offices Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib and closed the doors from the inside.

The Central government got an ordinance issued by the President of India on 20 May 1971, handing over the management of Gurdwaras to a 5-member committee. All 5 members were from the Congress party. The chief of this board was Joginder Singh and the secretary was Bhai Mohan Singh.

The management of this Gurdwara was handed over to this board. For four years, the board administered the Gurdwaras. This was opposed by Sant Fateh Singh -the president of the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.

The prominent Akali leaders of Delhi -Jathedar Santokh Singh, Avtar Singh Kohli, President, Delhi Akali Dal and Harbans Singh Frontier were detained under provisions of 107/51 IPC.  On 21 May, as many as 23 cases were foisted on Jathedar Santokh Singh (father of Manjit Singh GK -present president of DSGMC).

The developments in the Delhi Gurdwaras were discussed at the Shiromani Akali Dal meeting in Chandigarh on 21 May and it was decided to hold 30 May as protest day at various places and a convention to be organised, of representatives of Sikh organisations at the Akal Takht Sahib on 6 June 1971.  On the other hand an ordinance regarding the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee was passed in June 1971.

Sant Fateh Singh gave an ultimatum on 16 July 1971, but the government did not pay any heed to it. In its Working Committee meeting on 15 July 1971, the Shiromani Akali Dal passed a resolution that a 101-member Jatha -a dedicated group of religio-political volunteers, under the leadership of Sant Fateh Singh would march on 22 July 1971 from Akal Takht Sahib to Delhi to liberate Sikh Gurdwaras from the stranglehold of the Government-dominated Delhi Gurdwara leadership.

On 22 July 1971, Sant Fateh Singh, addressing a gathering at Gurdwara Manji Sahib, within the precincts of Darbar Sahib -aka The Golden Temple, declared a Morcha -a religious campaign. He said that his struggle was religious and not political. If the Delhi rulers become Zakaria Khan, then the Sikhs will become Bhai Mani Singhs. Spreading his mission in the course of his journey, when he reached Narela, near Delhi on 14 August 1971, Sant Fateh Singh was detained with his volunteers. Sant Fateh Singh and some Sewadars -workers, were placed under house arrest at a Gurdwara in Buddha Johar in Ganganagar and the others were lodged in Tihar jail in Delhi.

The second Jatha for liberation of Gurdwaras was taken to Delhi by Akali stalwarts -former Punjab revenue minister Atma Singh, followed by Surjit Singh Barnala, Prakash Singh Badal, finance minister Balwant Singh, Gurmeet Singh Muktsar, Satnam Singh Bajwa, Member Parliament Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Gurdas Singh Badal, Jathedar Jagdev Singh Talwandi, Dhanna Singh Gulshan, Raja Narinder Singh Nabha, Ravi Inder Singh, legislators of the Shiromani Akali Dal, members of the SGPC and district Jathedars, who all thronged Delhi in large numbers.

While the above leaders and their Jathas were detained in Delhi, activists from Agra, Alwar, Bharatpur, Banaras, Aligarh, Gwalior, Karnal, Ambala, Hissar, Patiala, Sangrur, Bhatia and Amritsar filled the jails in their respective cities.

A Jatha of Muslim activists from Malerkotla -the only Muslim dominated town of Punjab, led by Anwar Khan was also arrested and sent to Banaras prison. 7 Singhs died in prison and were declared martyrs. During the 115-day Morcha to liberate Delhi Gurdwaras, as many as 17 thousand Singhs courted arrest.

Meanwhile on 3 December 1971, war broke out between India and Pakistan. Jathedar Mohan Singh Tur, -the Morcha dictator (as he was called), stopped the Morcha on 6 December 1971. All Akalis detained in the Morcha, were released. The government of India promised to enact the Delhi Gurdwara Act and conduct elections soon.

The Metropolitan Council introduced the Gurdwara bill on 18 December, 1971. The proposed Gurdwara committee was to have 55 members, 46 of whom were to be elected and 9 to be nominated. Elections were to be held every four years. Four Jathedars were also to be ex-officio members of the DSGMC without voting rights.

Earlier on, there was a minimum educational qualification for members, which was later amended by the government to enable a government nominee to become the president. This story of government meddling in Delhi Gurdwara affairs some other time.

The original article is in Punjabi. It has been translated by the WSN Research Bureau.